Jane MacKenzie 

Artist Statement

My piece represents an undiscovered part of myself that was revealed to me during an encounter with a garter snake. An unexpected experience that illuminated a deeply buried family history of shame.

My installation shares this experience using found materials in an installation which includes constructions of snakes, created by hand stitching the leather of old gloves around found beach and forest branches.

There is an element of rescue to my studio work. I re-home, re-form and re-contextualize discarded items into new objects and installations through acts of mending, stitching, and sewing. These items are selected because they evoke associations and ideas that are personally significant and intersect with sources of influence and inspiration.
I take these materials into the studio where I explore how to combine and alter them to create an art piece. As I reshape and repair, I spend time on unattended parts of myself that are themselves healed and resurrected during the process.

Jane MacKenzie lives and works on Salt Spring Island and is a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design in photography and printmaking and of West Dean College in the UK for tapestry weaving. After completing her degree, she spent twenty years honing skills in hand- weaving and other textile practices while also engaging in community arts work and teaching art to youth. Her current studio practice focuses on assemblages and installation with a focus on textiles and found objects. The act of collecting and gathering materials to make art with is a significant part of her creative process. Her studio practice reconfigures and rejuvenates these found objects into works that reflect on her personal history. Jane has exhibited in the UK, Vancouver, Victoria and on Salt Spring Island.