Jennifer Pettus transforms fiber-based mixed media into profound explorations of beauty and value. Her practice merges repurposed textiles and scavenged objects with both fine art and craft techniques, challenging traditional notions of artistry. Through an innovative use of materials like hair, paper clay, undergarments, balloons, and stuffed animals, she delves into the hidden potential of the everyday, using bodily discomfort as a reflective tool. Her work utilizes the tactile and symbolic qualities of textiles, familiar materials that act as a bridge between the personal and the universal. The wear and stains of used materials become a narrative guide in teasing out new forms and concepts. Techniques like embroidery, needle felting, crochet, and drawing not only challenge notions of hierarchical craft, but celebrate the imperfections of mark-making. And presenting objects in ways that elicit instability further pushes transience as a disruptive force to traditional systems of value. Her work is a reflection of her personal experience of otherness, engaging in a dialogue with broader social narratives around gender and power. Manifesting detritus as art, she straddles notions of decorum, utility, and whimsy. By exploring and elevating this residue of existence her pieces often take on an otherworldly quality. It is in this realm of the unusual that she hopes to create a sense of curiosity and self-reflection, inviting viewers to engage with the inherent strangeness within and around them.