Artist Statement
The indiscriminate nature of disaster and the randomness of loss are consistent points of departure for my work. I am interested in the way a fragment, or a familiar object can serve as a springboard for a meditation on this rupture.
While the individual works are unique, I always work in sets of series. I find that the visual and intellectual complexities of the initial inspiration become deeper by the repeated use of the same forms, imagery, and materials.
A result of early training in the figurative tradition, the representation of form is an essential element of my practice whether in sculpture, ceramics, assemblage, painting, or drawing. Across a range of materials and methods, I uncover narratives and imagine secrets rescued from the ruins of memory.
Biography
Winifred McNeill works at the intersection of sculpture, ceramics, found-object assemblage, painting and drawing. Repurposing materials such as seashells, commercial tiles, metal plates and plumbing pipes, she engages a variety of strategies to explore the fragility of the physical world and the uncertainty of the concrete.
McNeill exhibits in national and international venues and her work is held in public and private collections. Residencies include The European Ceramic Work Center in Oisterwijk, The Netherlands, The Virginia Center for Creative Arts; The Brodsky Center at PAFA; The Millay Colony for the Arts; and Yaddo.
Living in Rome, she taught drawing and painting at St. Stephen's School. Returning to the states, she became the Curator of Education at the Jersey City Museum. She is a Professor Emeritus in the Art Department of New Jersey City University.
McNeill received a BFA from Boston University and an MFA from Queens College, CUNY.
Select Exhibitions
| 2024 | Fragment: Sculpture and Works on Paper, Club George, Northampton, MA |
| 2020 | The Air and The Space, Winifred McNeill, Art House Productions Gallery, Jersey City, NJ |
| 2019 | The Weight of the World, Winifred McNeill, Kristin Evangelista, Director WP University Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne NJ |
| 2017 | Industrial Strength, Winifred McNeill, Curator Peter Koch, The Black Cat, Berkeley, CA |
| 2016 | Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought: The Drawings and Sculpture of Winifred McNeill Curator Diane Radycki, Payne Gallery, Moravian College, PA |
| 2010 | Flight Shade, St. Stephens Cultural Center Foundation, Rome, Italy |
| 1999 | Looking and Touching, Aljira; A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ |
| 2024 | Small But Pangent, Ivy Brown Gallery, Meatpacking District, NY |
| 2024 | New Jersey Arts Annual, Montclair Museum, Montclair, NJ |
| 2023 | Curators Choice Art 150 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ |
| Vivid Selections from ArtFair14C submissions , Art 150 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ | |
| 2022 | New Jersey Arts Annual, Trenton NJ |
| 2022 | ArtFair 14C, The Showcase, The Armory, Jersey City, NJ |
| 2021 | On Being, Curator Kim Power, Sculptors Alliance, New York |
| 2020 | Test Cast XXII, Sunday Morning, The European Ceramic Workcentre, Oisterwijk, The Netherlands |
| 2019 | Embodied Language and the Form of the Book, PETER KOCH, PRINTER, The Grolier Club, New York, NY |
| 2018 | Contain Her, Trestle Projects, 62 18th Street, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2010 | New Classicism, Maloney Art Gallery, College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ |
| 2009 | Dialogue in Chinese Garden, Yucan Gallery, Suzhou, China St. Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ |
| 2007 | The Circular Exhibition, Ho Gallery, Seoul, Korea |
| 2007 | The Circular Exhibition, Hun Gallery, 12 W 32nd St, New York, NY |
| 2003 | 100 New Jersey Artists Make Prints, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper |
Select Collections
The Helen Fragments, The New York Public Library, Spencer Collection, New York, NY
The Helen Fragments, University of California at Berkeley, The Bancroft Library, Berkley, CA
The Helen Fragments, Columbia University Library, Rare Books Department, New York, NY
The Helen Fragments, University of California at Los Angeles, The Clark Library, Los Angeles, CA
The Helen Fragments, Stanford University Library, Gunst Collection, Stanford, CA
Select Publications
| 2018 | Of Death and the Planets John McEveety Woodruff, Limited edition book Covers and two interior watercolors |
| 2006 | The Helen Fragments, Limited Edition Letterpress Book Peter Koch printer, Berkley, California 55 drawings, commissioned for limited edition letterpress book |
Education
| MFA | Studio Art, Queens College, City University of New York |
| BFA | Studio Art, Boston University |
Winifred McNeill © 2024 | Site by Florio Design