ARTIST
San Diego artist, Sani vanderSpek poses phenomenological questions in their work that merges installation, sound, film and photography. By employing strategies of repetition and shifting perspectives, vanderSpek’s practice probes the politics of representation and display. VanderSpek’s work explores themes such as gender and sexuality, loss and mourning, migration, race, and appropriation. More than its focus on any particular subject, however, their work serves as a metaphor for the instability of memory and challenges viewers to reconsider the boundary between reality and imagination.
EDUCATOR
Sani vanderSpek earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Gender and Women's Studies and a Master of Science degree in Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford. She is dual credentialed in English and Social Science and has taught art, English, political science, history, and multimedia classes at High Tech High, 5280 High School and the Children's Creative and Performing Arts School.
Sani vanderSpek's pedagogic practice centers around culturally relevant teaching which facilitates student achievement through the affirmation of cultural identities. To create purpose and meaning in all work, her class projects focus on ways to build community and a sense of belonging, shape personal beliefs, practice craft and technical skill, collaborate, amplify student voice, and impact the community.
San Diego artist, Sani vanderSpek poses phenomenological questions in their work that merges installation, sound, film and photography. By employing strategies of repetition and shifting perspectives, vanderSpek’s practice probes the politics of representation and display. VanderSpek’s work explores themes such as gender and sexuality, loss and mourning, migration, race, and appropriation. More than its focus on any particular subject, however, their work serves as a metaphor for the instability of memory and challenges viewers to reconsider the boundary between reality and imagination.
EDUCATOR
Sani vanderSpek earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Gender and Women's Studies and a Master of Science degree in Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford. She is dual credentialed in English and Social Science and has taught art, English, political science, history, and multimedia classes at High Tech High, 5280 High School and the Children's Creative and Performing Arts School.
Sani vanderSpek's pedagogic practice centers around culturally relevant teaching which facilitates student achievement through the affirmation of cultural identities. To create purpose and meaning in all work, her class projects focus on ways to build community and a sense of belonging, shape personal beliefs, practice craft and technical skill, collaborate, amplify student voice, and impact the community.