Meet Guest Juror, Jody MacDonald

Jody MacDonald

Artist 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, New York, and Greece.

Artist 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. (Examples below.)

An example of wildlife-themed installation activism is, Everywhere All Over. All Over. Everywhere. (Detail images below.) This is a walk-in, site-specific diorama created at a 4heads residency on Governors Island, NY. 385 bat/human hybrid figures are waking to a sickened city of places and things that no longer exist. Various tableaux throughout the room explore satirical connections between viruses, community, ecology, and history. The bat/human hybrid figures are fashioned after North American bat species that are being decimated by a fungal infection called White-nose Syndrome.

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Art by Jody MacDonald shown above, left to right

• How to Be Athene cunicularia

• Detail view of the installation piece, Everywhere All Over. All Over. Everywhere.

• Detail view of the installation piece, Everywhere All Over. All Over. Everywhere.

• How to Be Geococcyx californianus