
Jenna Zeise
2025
Bachelors in Photography
jennazeise@gmail.com
Biography
Jenna Zeise is a senior undergraduate studying photography at Bradley University. She was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI where her love for the arts began, surrounded by the flourishing art scene and family members who shared her affinity for the craft. While concluding her BFA, Jenna has developed her skills in multiple mediums beyond photography, including painting and drawing, to depict themes that merge modern ideologies and classic techniques to question traditional values. Jenna also enjoys creating work in commercial settings; her post-graduation endeavors include pursuing her professional interest in sports photography while continuing her personal conceptual art ventures. Her work has been featured in publications such as Bradley University’s literary art journal: Broadside and the student newspaper The Bradley Scout. Recent exhibitions include the BFA undergraduate exhibition, Nothing Twice the Same, at Bradley’s Heuser Art Gallery and her photography senior thesis exhibition, Cultivate, at the Peoria Art Guild.
Artist's Statement
Reaped Abundance explores the political and social implications of legislative and societal censorship surrounding the female body, reproduction, and menstruation. Through the use of symbolic objects – fruits like grapes, papayas, and bananas, alongside natural elements such as honey and eggs – the work examines how historical and mythological imagery has contributed to the ongoing sexualization, and consequential suppression, of female anatomy. Employing a Renaissance-inspired still life aesthetic, the series evokes a sense of being trapped in the past while simultaneously highlighting these symbols in a contemporary dialogue. The digital pixelation applied to the fruits serves as a visual metaphor for censorship, controlling what sections are “taboo,” or even forbidden to see. Though the fruits themselves are not inherently sexual, their distortion prompts the audience to reconsider societal perceptions of the natural body. By balancing beauty with restriction, viewers are invited to question their own reactions to censorship. If concealing something as ordinary as fruit feels unnatural or unnecessary, how does that translate to the suppression of real human bodies?
More of My Work
I’m graduating with multiple degrees! Check out my work in another thesis exhibit.