Art and Anatomy: Sculpting a New Narrative with Haley Jurynec

Delve into the world of Yoni Art in Conversation with artist Haley Jurynec. 

Haley Jurynec is a Kitchener, Ontario based, fine arts student at the University of Waterloo. As a recipient of the Chalmers Family Arts and Culture Experience Award, Haley has always been committed to engaging with diverse modalities within art and sharing these experiences with others through education. 

Haley has always been immersed in the art world, even from a young age. These early experiences within art helped stoke her passion and heavily contributed to her journey in the arts. 

“I've always been involved in art. My mother is an artist as well.There's pictures of her like pregnant with me painting and then as a baby just creating art with her”

Haley mentions however, that despite these early encouragements, she was still heavily influenced by the societal expectation to be conventionally successful in STEM subjects such as math and science. These pressures are felt by many, but in particular by women as women make up only 35% of STEM graduates, thus placing a heavier onus on women in stepping into STEM fields. 

“It wasn't really until I got into university and all throughout high school, I did pursue art and I enjoyed it and I did IB art for a bit, which is an international program and I did really enjoy that… But I always had in the back of my mind I need to stay academic. So when I went to university, my first major I started off in was sexuality, marriage and family studies, which kind of leads into the arts and modalities that I'm working in now. But I minored in fine arts thinking I was maybe going to keep it on the side and maybe pursue something like art therapy or just kind of have it in my back pocket.”

Despite the initial shuffling of career goals, Haley eventually realized many of the professional opportunities she gravitated towards, included art in some way. This realization prompted her to engage with her art more seriously and consider the professional pathways as a result.

Mixed Media Perspective Piece by Haley Jurynec

Throughout her various creative ventures, Haley has had the opportunity to experiment with a diverse set of mediums in order to express herself to the fullest extent. Haley cites that this broad set of experiences has helped her navigate her professional future, in addition to pushing her out of her comfort zone to grow in her personal life. 

“...I think it's really important as an artist to not really limit yourself to one medium… it's really important to challenge yourself as an artist because it allows you to think differently about your mediums” 

 While she typically engages in acrylic and oil painting, Haley has also had experience with clay sculpting, creative writing, and vintage collage work, with the overarching themes of her pieces typically connecting to feminism and female reproductive topics. Many of her pieces tend to cover more taboo depictions of the feminine experience as she seeks to create works of art that not only speak to the viewer, but also promote change in society. 

“It's also out of a big desire of representing things that aren't necessarily discussed and that are shamed…And I don't think they should be”

Her focus in feminism stems not only from her own lived experience, but also the shared experiences of women around the world. Haley strives to use her art as a tool to educate and spread awareness surrounding the struggles women face globally. 

“I think if we change the conversation and just add a lot more respect, then there's going to be a lot more women that see themselves in a more positive light, see their body in a more positive light, and expect and demand better treatment … If we build a more confident culture that lifts up people with female reproductive systems ,I think that it could change the narrative of a lot of really sad stories.”

Haley recently completed a clay sculpture piece of an abstract depiction of a uterus that will be displayed as part of the Vulva and Vagina Exhibit of Yoni Mudra Art Gallery in June 2026. This piece is a continuation of Haley’s work in feminist art and features many details representative of owning a uterus. 

Uterus in Clay by Haley Jurynec

“I went with like a lot of different textural contrasts to represent a lot of different things. So there's three circles that are in this piece and they kind of represent my experience with adenomyosis, endometriosis and poly-cystic ovary syndrome. They're kind of representative of cysts and they all have different marks on them. One's smooth, one has holes in them and then one has like strikes and they actually represent the different symptoms and different things that I've experienced because of these syndromes…My personal kind of healing journey that's still always continuous as it is for everyone has been tied to nature a lot. That's one of my huge themes throughout all of my art.”

The piece was entirely hand sculpted from clay, with various other materials incorporated within. While Haley mainly identifies as a painter and writer, this foray into sculpting she cites as being healing and necessary to grow. 

 “It's very personal working with clay as it's more of a physical thing. Like the parts I like about acrylic painting over oil is I use my hands and I'm very tactile with it, whereas with oil, you shouldn't really be messing around too much. So that's one thing I did really love about clay. Specifically in the piece I created, this uterus, I really was intentional with my mark making and how I used my hands… This is part of my body and I've worked my energy into it… When you have like a physical piece that you can see in the round as opposed to a painting I think it evokes different emotions from the viewer and it kind of invites them to like look into it more especially because my piece is hollow so you can actually physically look inside of it which I think adds more depth in a way that you can't necessarily get from drawing and painting.”

Haley seeks to promote reflection within the viewers in relation to the state of the world and the various political themes she touches on throughout her pieces. Haley mentions both from her own experience, and anecdotal experience of others, that she finds the healthcare system in particular to be an ongoing and increasing issue for women everywhere. 

“The lack of medical research that's done on the female reproductive system is disgusting. We have hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on Viagra and we do not have any painkillers for when you get an IUD inserted. We do not have the research backed for endometriosis, and that's a chronic condition that so many women are facing. There's just so many things that need to be brought to light and focused on and given more respect..”

In fact, as of a meta analysis conducted in late 2025, women are still consistently overlooked and neglected in healthcare across every department. Every area of healthcare from research, to clinical trials, and practical care, women are continuously unaccounted for, to the point where many adult women still do not know their own anatomy in its entirety.

Feminist issues are ever evolving and developing throughout various human experiences across the world. As such, connection through shared community in art remains to be a foundational aspect of society that will always have room to grow. 

Support Haley Jurynec in her artistic pursuits and follow her journey @haley.j_art on Instagram