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Wren Macdonald
instagram: @wernlm
(Downloadable CV)
I search for a sort of quietness in my work, while simultaneously grasping for fraughtness and misalignment. The installations and drawings I create reflect tension, deep anxiety, unavoidable urges, aloneness, connection, and frustration hiding within a muted, animal guise. In pairs or groupings, sometimes the animals make sense together and sometimes they force the viewer to pause. Vastness unfolds with a queue, such as a single rabbit, which can constitute an entire muffled shrubscape in its absoluteness.
I use clay in tandem with illustration and poetry. The poetry and drawings are where my initial ideas take form and the clay holds both the tension and immediacy that I seek. I treat the elements of my installations like words in a poem - they are fluid entry points to generate a natural environment for the observer. Specific distance between objects creates an intimacy; a feeling like we as viewers are stepping into an environment that doesn’t involve us. There is always a story going on (in nature) and we have the privilege of happening upon it. We must remember, if only occasionally, to observe and be small.
Wren Macdonald lives and works in New York City where she manages a ceramic studio and teaches ceramics.
b. 1998 Denver, CO
Education
B.F.A. Colorado State University. Pottery. With Honors 2021
One & Two Person Exhibitions
2024
Greenwich House Pottery Chelsea, CORNER 601. Out of the Black Pond. New York, NY.
2023
Greenwich House Pottery, Vestibule Gallery. Two For Joy. New York, NY.
2022
Greenwich House Pottery, Vestibule Gallery. Pressed Forget-Me-Nots. New York, NY.
2021
PPL PRJCT. The Fox Cackles (The Rabbit Laughs), Capstone Exhibition. Fort Collins, CO.
2020
Colorado State University, Visual Arts Building: Mini Gallery. Span. Fort Collins, CO.
2019
Colorado State University, Visual Arts Building: Mini Gallery. Three Deer Withstanding and Composers. Fort Collins, CO.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Onetwentyeight Gallery, At the Inevitable Sundown, Pieces 7, New York, NY.
Clay Center of New Orleans, Lamb Portal I, Lamb with Horse Legs for Antlers, Twin Lamb, Small Scale Sculpture, New Orleans, LA.
2023
Honey’s, (various cups and sculptures), in Potluck, Brooklyn, NY.
2022
92nd Street Y, Earl Grey Tea and Conflict in Faculty Exhibition. New York, NY.
Main Street Arts, I Am My Oldest Friend (Portrait of a Dying Rabbit) in Small Works 2022. Clifton Springs, NY.
8th Street, Greenwich Village. Five White Rabbits and Pair of Rats, immersive street exhibition. New York, NY.
2021
Colorado State University, Curfman Gallery. VoidSeedPig in Spring 2021 Juried Student Art Exhibition. Fort Collins, CO.
2019
Art Lab. Invasion of Home in ‘Art’ Exhibition, international exhibition. Fort Collins, CO.
Colorado State University, Visual Arts Building: Clara Hatton Gallery. Sweep, Attini Formicidae, and Ascend in the
CSU Art and Art History Scholarship Nomination Exhibition. Fort Collins, CO.
2018
Colorado State University, Visual Arts Building: Clara Hatton Gallery. Mulligan and Zero Craft Corp Workshop. Fort Collins, CO.
2015
Denver Art Museum, Scholastic Art & Writing Show. Goldhill, Denver, CO.
Grants and Awards
Anderson Ranch Arts Center Workshop Scholarship. 2024.
Founding Faculty Scholarship, Colorado State University. 2020. Merit Based.
Richard W Griffith Scholarship, Colorado State University. 2020. Merit Based.
Nominated and Evaluated for CSU Art and Art History Scholarships, with juried exhibition. CSU Art and Art History Department. 2020. Portfolio Based.
Anderson Ranch Workshop Partnership Scholarship; nominated by Del Harrow and Sanam Emami. 2020. Merit based.
Denver Metro Scholarship, Colorado State Alumni Association. 2019.
Creative and Performing Arts Award, Colorado State University. 2018 & 2019. Merit based.
Grand Champion, National Western Stock Show Art Competition for Goldhill. 2016.
Scholastic Art and Writing Selected Showcase for Goldhill. 2015.
Scholastic Silver Key for Goldhill. 2015.
Employment, Internships, and Workshops
Studio Coordinator at Greenwich House Pottery, January 2024 - present.
Ceramic Consultant for DreamYard, December 2023.
Instructor at BKLYN Clay, Beginning and Open Level Wheel. September 2022-December 2023.
Instructor at Greenwich House Pottery, Beginning Handbuilding. September 2022-Present.
Instructor at the 92nd Street Y, Beginning Wheel. February 2022 - December 2023.
Studio Technician at Greenwich House Pottery. September 2021 - December 2023.
Studio Technician at the 92nd Street Y. August 2021-August 2022.
Ceramic internship with Rudkin Studio under Jennifer Rudkin. May - August, 2019.
Work Study for CSU Art and Art History Department. February - May, 2019.
Paid assistant to David Grainger on Routine (Stockholders) sculpture production for installation at The Yard, Colorado Springs, CO. March, 2019.
Zero Craft Corp workshop, Participant. January, 2018.
Denver Art Institute Summer Session in Fashion Design, Participant. August, 2016.
Artist Lectures and Invitationals
Career Pathways Symposium, Lecture. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (virtual). December 2022.
Selected Work in Publications
CSU Cicada Magazine. Invasion of Home and Three Deer Withstanding Winter 2019 issue.
CSU Cicada Magazine. Alter and Sweep in , Spring 2019 issue.
ALL CONTENT © BY WREN MACDONALD 2024