Jessie McNeil’s interdisciplinary practice reflects on themes of place, memory, the quotidian, time and migration. Varying from map-making, collage, video and book media, sculpture and painting, her work explores the past and present of her environment and how they may play a role in our ever-evolving private and public identities. Since the birth of her daughter in November 2020, McNeil has been studying how the experience of occupying space as a mother can further her investigations of private lives in public space. Borrowing artist Lenka Clayton’s framework of the Artist Residency in Motherhood (ARiM), McNeil has been using the distractions of motherhood (ie “the fragmented mental focus, exhaustion, nap-length studio time” and/or whatever child-minding periods offered or arranged) as additional working materials and not obstacles to overcome.

Of Estonian and Scottish ancestry, Canadian artist Jessie McNeil graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2013, and has since attended artist residencies in Canada (Vancouver School Board), as well as in Tartu, Estonia (Tartu AIR at Trükimuuseum + Paberimuuseum) and in Denmark at the Aarhus Center for Visual Art. She has won numerous awards and grants (from Canada Council for the Arts, Vancouver Foundation, The Salt Spring National Arts Prize and The Hnatyshyn Foundation). She has hosted children's workshops locally, co-coordinated and curated festivals, exhibitions and cultural events and has exhibited her work across Canada and abroad. McNeil lives, works and plays in her hometown, Vancouver BC - the unceded lands of the Coast Salish community, which includes the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.