Jenna Macy: Dry Spell

May 11, 2021 - May 23, 2021
Mānoa Campus, Art Building, Commons Gallery Add to Calendar

Jenna Macy, Master of Fine Arts 2021 candidate from the Department of Art & Art History, UHM, presents a selection of recent work.

Event: April 29, 2021, 12:00–1:15 pm: Talk among artists Ava Fedorov, Nanea Lum, and Jenna Macy, in conjunction with their MFA Thesis virtual exhibitions and their solo Commons Gallery shows throughout April and May (641 863 5286; Passcode: Manoa2021).

The Commons Gallery, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (UHM), is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Jenna Macy, the last solo exhibition of the exhibition series of recent works by UHM MFA 2021 candidates.

"Dry Spell" (noun): A period of arid weather. A calendrical break from intimacy. A lapse of love.

"Dry Spell" is an exhibition of video performances and sculptural objects by Jenna Macy that engage with the perceived language of natural phenomena in the desert. Engaging in a performance-based research of the properties of sand and the survival mechanisms of desert chameleons, works challenge both a personal understanding of intimacy and a larger cultural dry spell—the historical and ongoing devaluation of intimacy in Western culture. "Deepest Darkest Seacret II—Master of Disguise" (2021) “communicates” a secret in the shifting sands using a soundwave tool fabricated from a recording of Macy whispering a secret. "Learning to Not Drown" (2021) is about “healing” a bruise by using the heat of the artist’s body to change the color of a sculpture treated with thermochromic paint. Both performances are edited to popular nature documentary soundtracks, in ways that open up the questions about human intimacy during this isolated time and place through an imagined lens of reverse anthropomorphism.

Jenna Macy’s multimedia work often develops from sardonic observation, comparing human behavior to mating rituals as they might appear in a nature documentary. Born in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, she completed her BFA at Maryland Institute College of Art (2016) and is the recipient of an MFA at the University of Hawai‘i at M?noa (2021). Macy is the recipient of the Windgate Fellowship from the Center for Craft Creativity and Design in North Carolina (2017) and has exhibited at the Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

*Currently the UH Manoa campus is open to the campus community but closed to the general public due to the pandemic. Please check https://manoa.hawaii.edu/moving-forward/visitor-faqs/ for more info. Due to covid-19 restrictions this exhibition will be viewable from outside the gallery.

Dates and information subject to change.

Image: Jenna Macy (detail)


Ticket Information
Following COVID-19 protocols. Gallery hours: Viewable from outside. Parking fees may apply during weekdays; parking is usually free on Sundays.

Event Sponsor
Art & Art History, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Sharon Tasaka, 808-956-8364, gallery@hawaii.edu, https://hawaii.edu/art/2021-fedorov-lum-macy/

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