Jacquelyn O’Brien
did you study art / describe a moment of a class, in academia or alternative learning, that shifted your perspective.
[JO]. Yes, I studied art in college and graduate school. Specifically, I studied sculpture. When I was in college, maybe 20 years old, I took an introduction to sculpture class because it was mandatory. It unlocked something within me, expressing feeling through my hands resonated so deeply with me that it was as if I knew right away that I had to continue making in this way. I didn’t have to talk through my feelings or explain them to anyone, I learned that I could make them.
how do you allow for your values as an artist heal within the competitive realm of capitalism.
[JO]. It is hard to admit that I have spent a lot of time giving myself permission to heal from anything, much less the darkness cast by capitalism. Especially in graduate school, the competition in order to achieve what it means to be ‘successful’ drove my body into the ground. What I have learned afterwards, is that outside of academia, I owe no one my art. I don’t owe speed or making to any one or thing besides myself and I only owe myself because making artwork is what I need to do in order to feel whole.
can you describe yourself as an artist in your childhood. At what age did play merge into art.
[JO]. As a child I remember liking to put things together, not like legos or Lincoln logs though. What I liked to do was arrange pieces of construction paper, or layer colors with crayons and paint or make up pretend worlds. The only thing I recall as far as making art was when I was five years old, I won a construction paper penguin contest at the memorial art museum in Rochester where I grew up. I think it made me feel special and I loved making it, both of which gave me something that I needed, which was confidence.
what does being a female or female-identifying artist mean to your work.
[JO.] I spent a long time in my early art making trying to find out what ‘my thing’ was and who I was as an artist. At first, I thought who I was as an artist had to be connected to being a womxn and I forced my way through that narrative. All of the pushing I did felt wrong, clumsy and heavy handed, so I stopped; which is when my work began to take form. I followed my material preferences, started to combine processes and began reading whatever interested me. All of this formed a network of my research, how I view aesthetics and my artwork. This is when I became cognizant of my ‘womxn-ness’. My materiality often thrives best on the unification of unlikely couples, industrial and home based. I cast concrete because I can and because it is physically challenging. More-over I love that the viewer questions my gender identification when observing the materials. Seeing a large cast concrete element compressing a long pile pink shag faux fur mat is confusing; who made this? Were they strong? Could they sew? Do they work construction? All of these questions open sores that have been minorly healed by an oppressive patriarchy. It has always told us who is who and that we should slip back in the quiet. Being a womxn has given me mandatory perspectives that have informed my whole language as an artist.
how does nature speak to you. how do you use your art to speak.
[JO.] One of the things I like best about nature is that it doesn’t talk in a language that I can understand as words. Much like the way I enjoy how making artwork is a physical language, nature speaks in bird calls and the sound of water moving. I love to collect things, like shells and small rocks or skeletons and deer teeth. I like to watch water move when the tide comes in from the ocean and the Sand Pipers zipping around after tiny clams digging themselves into the sandy seaside. When I look to the sky where it touches the ocean and it is too far away for me to tell the difference, I feel peaceful; like I can stop moving. I love to hear the sound of my dog’s paws splatting into the wetness of the shore, chasing seagulls away from her pile of sticks. I could sit with the sun on my back or the ice on the tip of my nose for hours if it meant that I could be gathering bits of sea-glass and empty shells all while listening to the calming repetition of the waves. This is where mother earth lives, I am convinced of it.
Jacquelyn O'Brien is a working sculptor and fiber artist, gallery professional, college professor and the founder of Politits: Art Coalition. In the past 10 years she has been in over 40 exhibitions, most notably, 2011 in a two-person exhibition “Rough Relationships”, 2012 the 'Lombardo Award Exhibition', 2013 a solo exhibition “Second Thoughts", 2014 in a juried exhibition “Convergence”, 2015 in thesis exhibition "Open Up", solo exhibition "Hysterical" at the Joy Gallery, “Down Below” a solo exhibition of her mono-print work, the winner of the Rochester Contemporary Sculpture Award at Sonneberg Gardens in the summer of 2017 and two-person sculpture exhibition by invitation “A Day is Gonna Come” in 2019. Also, in 2012 Ms. O'Brien won the Lombardo Award at Buffalo State College, (at which she received her BFA in sculpture), involving a networking trip to New York City, an award exhibition and exhibition of work at the All-SUNY show. While working toward her BFA, Jacquelyn received four separate research grants to further her study of sculpture.
Once receiving her BFA in spring 2013, she was awarded a six-week residency at The Osage Arts Community in Belle, MO. After teaching at The Osage Arts Community and making work during her residency, Jacquelyn completed her MFA at Rochester Institute of Technology and began teaching adjunct there. In 2016-17 Ms. O'Brien was in three residencies at The Yards Collaborative Arts Space in January 2016, Osage Community Center in March 2016 and Main Streets Art Gallery in January – February 2017. In 2018 O’Brien relocated to Burlington, VT in favor of pursuing her work in arts administration and studio practices. Further, after this move, she attended residency at the Vermont Studio Center in 2020. Currently, Ms. O'Brien is working in her studio, running the gallery at Burlington City Arts, contributing to The Politits Art Coalition, as well as preparing for upcoming exhibitions.
