Tracey Snelling Awarded the 2020 Foundwork Artist Prize

Chosen out of consideration for her exceptional studio practice, Snelling works across mediums like sculpture, installation, performance, sound, and video. Riding the line between storytelling and observation, the artist constructs detailed environments that evoke ideas of time and setting, which activate her audience’s perception and allow their own experiences to come into play during viewing.

Snelling’s recent works include smaller-scale creations like the Rooms (2019) and Lost Year Motel (2020)—a lifelike model of an inn, reminiscent of somewhere one might stop during a cross-country road trip. The artist also works in large-scale, making environments and spaces for performance, like her 2019 installation Clusterfuck 9 and the cluttered interior setting for Bedroom, Living Room performances, which was realized in 2018. Snelling is the second recipient of the prize, following its inaugural honoree, the Chicago-based artist Edra Soto. This year’s prize also recognizes three artists selected for a shortlist, including Joiri Minaya, Andrea Joyce Heimer, and Melanie McLain.