Bio
MacDonald graduated with a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University in 2011 (Vancouver, BC, Canada). Her fastidiously crafted work has been exhibited in galleries and artist-run centers across Canada and the U.S.
MacDonald’s art practice is an ongoing exploration of identity, hierarchies, and stereotypes characterized by dark humor, multiples, and an obsessive attention to detail. Her works on paper and sculptures are featured in private collections throughout Ontario, British Columbia, and New York.
Statement
My practice is a satirical merging of fact, fiction, history, and pop culture. Individual, small-scale sculptural pieces have recently expanded into immersive, room-sized, walk-in dioramas.
A combination of both fine art and craft materials and techniques, the highly narrative, elaborate installations begin with tiny textile figures. The small-scale figures (10” to 20” in height) are created using labor-intensive hand and machine sewing. Detailed, miniature accessories (clothing, furniture, newspapers, guns, etc.) are obsessively crafted and sprinkled throughout the work as clues to a complex and layered story. Mixed media environments play with the concept of “real” v. “fake” and feature both authentic materials (i.e. leather, wood) alongside artificial materials that masquerade as genuine (i.e. vinyl, printed paper).
The results are exquisite and uncanny miniature worlds where characters mirror and critique social and political issues.
The various tableaux within the pieces offer sly commentary on contemporary culture and human behavior. The intimate 1:4 to 1:8 human scale coaxes viewers in for a closer look where unsettling narratives lurk under a veneer of dark humor and whimsy.
Works on paper often take the form of mixed media sketches that serve as behind-the-scenes glimpses into the pre-construction planning of sculptural works. Combining images and text with a keen attention to detail, the sketches are exquisite stand-alone works in their own right.
CV
Born in St. Thomas, ON. Currently living and working in New York, NY.
Education
2011 | Emily Carr University, BFA (Visual Arts) |
1996 | Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver, BC (Diploma in Fine Art, Studio major) |
1989 | H.B. Beal Technical & Vocational School - Bealart Program, London, ON (Printmaking & Textiles) |
Awards
2024 | FY2024 Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, NY |
2022 | 4heads PORTAL Residency, Governors Island, NY |
2019 | Individual Artist Grant, Queens Arts Fund, Queens Council for the Arts, NY |
Select Exhibitions (solos in bold)
2024 | All Over Everywhere, Yashar Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Malleability: The Theater of Identity, CAMP Gallery (Artsy), online REAL INSIDE, SPRING/BREAK Art Show INT./EXT., New York, NY All (The Winner Takes It), AHA Underground @Jim Kempner Gallery, New York, NY Ex-Femina, The Schoolhouse, Art Takeover @Westbeth, New York, NY |
2023 | She Made Me Do It, Sour Mouse, New York, NY Everywhere All Over, SPRING/BREAK !WILDCARD!, New York, NY [duo show] Balls To the Wall: Chapter 3, Arcilesi & Homberg Fina Art in Chelsea, New York, NY Local Champion, Local Project Art Space, Long Island City, NY The Itty Bitty Art Show, Alterwork Gallery, Long Island City, NY Finding My Folk, Old Stone House Gallery, Brooklyn, NY |
2022 | All Over Everywhere. Everywhere. All Over., Colonels Row, Governors Island, NY MAAV (Mail Art Archive Vienna), international collaboration, Vienna, Austria |
2021 | Cat Daddy, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY STRAND, Digital Grace (ECOCA), New Haven, CT The Art of Coney Island, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY Outside/Outsider, Local Project Art Space, Queens, NY UNRAVELED: Contemporary Textile Work, Untitled Space, New York, NY EMBODY, ELY Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT |
2020 | Soul Cakes, Arcilesi & Homberg Fine Art @ Local Project, Queens, NY To Scale: A Small Works Group Show, Craddock-Terry Gallery, Lynchburg, VA Feminine Identity, St. Joseph's College, Patchogue, NY Ride Through the Heart, Arcilesi & Homberg Fine Art @ SFA Projects, New York, NY |
2019 | Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls, Radiator Gallery, Long Island City, NY LISTEN: Artists Respond to Politics, BronxArtSpace, Bronx, NY Bound/Less, Arcilesi & Homberg Fine Art at 222 Bowery, New York, NY |
2018 | The Doll Show, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY Imperfectly Perfect, Arcilesi & Homberg Fine Art at Spring Natural, New York, NY Manipulated Life, Plaxall Gallery, Long Island City, NY Freak Show, Local Project Art Space, Long Island City, NY Minuscule to the Monumental, Raw Space @ The Factory, Long Island City, NY Below the Surface, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Your Presence is Requested, SFA Projects aka Lodge Gallery, New York, NY |
2017 | Live/Work/Play: NYC, LIC Arts Open Gallery, NY UPSTANDERS!!!, The Factory, Long Island City, NY Animalia, Local Project Art Space, Long Island City, NY |
2016 | Fall Salon Show, LIC Arts Open, Long Island City, NY Othering: BAA Biennial, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield, MA |
2015 | Holiday Salon, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY [by invitation] Yourself, Local Project Art Space, Long Island City, NY Small Works 2015, Main Street Arts, Clifton Falls, NY Shangri-La in L.I.C., The Factory, Long Island City, NY [by invitation] |
2014 | Emily Carr Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC [duo show, by invitation] Roberts Creek Arts Festival, Nico Spacecraft, Roberts Creek, BC [by invitation] |
2012 | Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Gallery Connexion, Fredericton, NB Survival Games, Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, BC [by invitation] Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, NS Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Port Moody Arts Centre, BC [by invitation] |
2010 | Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Latitude 53, Edmonton, AB |
2009 | Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Campbell River Art Gallery, BC |
2007 | Favourite Ways With Pheasant, The New Gallery (+15), Calgary, AB Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?, Fifth Parallel Gallery, University of Regina, SK |
2006 | Permutations: the raw and the soft, Nanaimo Art Gallery, BC (duo w/Stephen Laidlaw) [monograph] |
2004 | Effigy burning event (Iraq War: "G.I. Don't Wanna Die"), Seattle, WA |
2001 | Wild Things, Ceperley House Gallery, Burnaby, BC Emily's Art Party (ECIAD's 75th Anniversary Gala), Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC |
2000 | Chocolate Fever, Dynamo Gallery, Vancouver, BC April Fool's Fundraiser, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC |
1999 | Happening, 201 Central, Vancouver, BC Candy: 2nd Annual Member's Show, Dynamo Gallery, Vancouver, BC |
1998 | 80 Years of Experiment: 1912-1992, London Regional Art & Historical Museum, ON [catalogue] 1st Annual Member's Show, Dynamo Gallery,Vancouver, BC |
1997 | Fabrication '97, Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, BC |
1996 | ECIAD Graduation Exhibition, Emily Carr Campus, Vancouver, BC [ catalogue] True Love, Concourse Gallery, Vancouver, BC |
1995 | Media Show, Emily Carr Lecture Theatre, Vancouver, BC Straight White Male Show, Concourse Gallery, Vancouver, BC |
1993 | Foundation Exhibition, Concourse Gallery, Vancouver, BC |
1989 | Year End Show, Bealart Annex, H.B. Beal Technical & Vocational School, London, ON |
1988 | Roth Art Miniatures Exhibition, Roth Art Gallery, London, ON Year End Show, Bealart Annex, H.B. Beal Technical & Vocational School, London, ON Bealart Award Winners Show, Bealart Annex, H.B. Beal Technical & Vocational School, London, ON |
Bibliography
2024 | Deters, Alexandria, Cultbytes, “9 Artists That Urge You to Stop and Linger at SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2024”. Cultbytes.com (Sep 6, 2024) https://cultbytes.com/9-artists-that-urge-you-to-stop-and-linger-at-spring-break-art-show-2024/ [ill] “Would you tell the Bi-Polar Bear what happens to the Titanic?”. Hyperallergic Instagram feature reel (Sep 6, 2024) https://www.instagram.com/hyperallergic/reel/C_IPQXPOPrm/ |
2023 | Astanov, Jana, "The SPRING/BREAK WILD CARD and Its Prophecies". Creatrixmag.org (September 10, 2023) https://creatrixmag.com/spring-break-wild-card/ [ill] Yaniv, Etty, “Jody MacDonald: Under the Veneer of Whimsy”. Art Spiel.org (January 9, 2023) https://artspiel.org/jody-macdonald-under-the-veneer-of-whimsy/ [ills] |
2021 | Stavesky, Lois, "Exhibition: Outside/Outsider, Artists Confronting Mental Illness Continues Through June 13". Artbreakout.com (June 9, 2021) https://artbreakout.com/exhibition/outside-outsider-artists-confronting-mental-illness-continues-through-june-13-at-local-project-in-lic/, [ill] Czepiel, Kathy, "Physical Therary". Dailynutmeg.com (March 31, 2021) http://dailynutmeg.com/2021/03/31/embody-ely-center-contemporary-art-physical-therapy/, [ill] Slattery, Brian, "Ely Center Embodies Pandemic Art". Newhavenindependent.org (March 12, 2021) https://www.newhavenindependent.org/idnex.php/archives/entry/artspace_embody/, [ill] |
2019 | Guzman, Alissa, "In Long Island City, Local Artists Go Big and Bold". Hyperallergic.com (Nov 18, 2019) https://hyperallergic.com/528829/in-long-island-city-local-artists-go-big-and-bold/, [ill] Yaniv, Etty, "Peter Gynd - Jody MacDonald: Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls at Radiator". In Dialogue with Peter Gynd. Art Spiel.org (Nov 11, 2019) http://artspiel.org/peter-gynd-jody-macdonald-freaks-geeks-and-strange-girls-at-radiator/, [ills] The Editors. "Embracing and Reclaiming Themselves Through Art". Interview: Deborah Yasinsky, curator of LISTEN: Artists Respond to Politics at BronxArtSpace, Quail Bell Magazine.com (February 13, 2019) http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-real-20/interview-deborah-yasinsky-curator-of-listen-artists-respond-to-politics-at-bronxartspace |
2017 | Angle, Roderick. “LIC: Dreaming Is Necessary”. About Themselves. Vol. 1, iss. 1 (May 2017), [ill] |
2014 | Maltese, Tammy. “Roberts Creek Arts Festival”. ZOOM. Vol. 5, iss. 2 (2014 Special Edition), p17 [ill] |
2012 | Gravelle, Tamara. "The Shady-Shatner Connection". The Brunswickan (Oct 23, 2012) [ill] http://thebruns.ca/arts/the-shady-shatner-connexion/ MacNeill, Jon. "Dolls with minds of their own." HereNB. Vol. 13, iss. 4 (October 18-24), p38 [ills] Payne, Sarah. “PMAC show a search for self”. The Tri-City News.com (March 13, 2012) http://www.tricitynews.com/entertainment/142534255.html |
2010 | Jervis, Carolyn. “Some Help From Inert Friends”. Latitude 53 Writer in Residence. (May 12, 2010) http://blog.latitude53.org/post/594218885/some-help-from-inert-friends Jonsson, Stephanie. “Will The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?” (monograph). Latitude 53 (May 2010) [ill] |
2009 | MacKay, Sheryl (radio interview). “North By Northwest”. CBC Radio 1, Vancouver (aired Feb. 1, 8:30am) “New season of gallery exhibits”. Campbell River Mirror (January 23), pA13 [ill] “First 2009 Exhibits Open for Art Gallery”. Campbell River Courier-Islander (January 23), p23 [ill] “Artist livens up discussion”. Campbell River Mirror (February 20), pA16 [ill] |
2006 | Corraini, Rob. "Monty Python meets the Muppets at Nanaimo Art Gallery Show". The Nanaimo Bulletin (Aug. 8), p 26 Light, Kait (interview). "Arts Now". Shaw Channel 4 Nanaimo (aired July 27-29, 7:30pm/1:30am) Ball, Gregory. "Permutations: the raw and the soft" (monograph). The Nanaimo Art Gallery (July) [ill] "Symbolism Unites Two Artists". The Nanaimo Bulletin (July 25), p 29 [ill] |
2000 | Murrills, Angela. "Gift Tips to Help the Desperate: Philippe Starck fly swatters and sock puppets will make them smile". The Georgia Straight Style: Fashion Plate. Dec. 14-21, p 44 |
1998 | O'Brian, Paddy. "80 years of experiment 1912-1992". Exhibition Catalogue, p 60 [ill p 77] |
1997 | Parry, Malcolm. "Fashion parade had an ephemeral look". The Vancouver Sun Town Talk (Feb. 20), B4 [ill] Parry, Malcolm. "Party Politics". Vancouver Magazine, Schmooze (April), p 66 [ill] |
1996 | Muir, Stewart. "Among The Floppy and The Inept, The Arty Stand Out". Vancouver Sun Review (May 11), D6 |