Michelle Mackinnon, MFA, BFA (York)

Visiting assistant professor - Visual Arts

Email: mmackinnon@mun.ca

Website: Link

Social media/LinkedIn: michelleleahmackinnon (IG)

 

Research interests/expertise

How do we sit comfortably with things that are uncomfortable? Can we reimagine a way in which we create our bodies into soft sites of home for ourselves? How do we use art to embrace belonging to our bodies and the intricacies that come along with being? My understanding of the concept of home is continually balancing an evolving, restless, and fragile notion of being. Considering our bodies as our first site of home and perhaps only dwelling can, for me, be a difficult thought to navigate and reside in. ‘How to become comfortable with the uncomfortable?’ is the question I am exploring by making and thinking through ways to shelter and sit with oneself when the body cannot, at times, feel like home, through the lens of anxiety and hypochondria.

 

Teaching

Drawing & Painting

 

Representative scholarly contributions

2023 — Knitting the Body and Home: Artist Michelle MacKinnon, Tint of Ink, Interview, Ottawa,

     ON, 21 September

 Morning Show, BayFM, be soft(er) CB Nuit Installation, Interview, Corner Brook, NL,

     10 August

 Newfoundland Morning, CBC NL, to keep your toes warm while you’re home, Interview

     with Hilary Johnson, Grand Falls, NL, 26 July

2022 — Pandemic Peace in Portraits, Saltwire Atlantic Canada, Interview with Diane Crocker,

     Corner Brook, NL, 20 February

 Pandemic Portraits: Artist Book, design by Hazel Eckert, printing by BookArt (QC), self-

     published, Corner Brook, NL

 Corner Brook’s Morning Show, CBC NL, Pandemic Portraits, Interview with Martin    

     Jones, Corner Brook, NL, 28 August

  1. John’s Weekend Morning, CBC NL, Pandemic Portraits, Interview with Ramraajh
  2. John’s Weekend Morning, CBC NL, Pandemic Portraits, Interview with Paula Gale,

     Sharvendiran, St. John’s, NL, 3 April

2021 — In Celebration of the Small Victories, Volume 23, written by Connor McCann, [Edit]ion,

     Maritime Edit Magazine, Nova Scotia, Spring

  1. John’s, NL, 3 April
  2. John’s Morning Show, CBC NL, Pandemic Portraits, Interview with Ramraajh

2020 — Straight Outta Corner Brook, Fall 2020, Feature Article by Ian McKay, Art North

     Magazine, Scotland  

 In Practice: Michelle MacKinnon, interview with Mireille Eagan, The Rooms, St. John’s,

     NL, September 2020

 Corner Brook’s Morning Show, CBC NL, Pandemic Portraits, Interview with Bernice

     Hillier, St.  John’s, NL, 28 August

 CBC, Online Interview, Corner Brook painter highlights pandemic productivity in

     portraits, St. John’s, NL, 30 August

     Shrvendiran, St. John’s, NL, 28 August

 Visual Arts News, Summer 2020, New Exhibitions by Michelle MacKinnon, written by

     Jane Walker, NL

 Riddle Fence, Issue #35, Cover Image and Featured Artist, St. John’s, NL, March

 Hit List, Akimbo Feature, ON

 (em)brace, a response by Jane Walker, Jane Walker, Exhibition Publication, Eastern

      Edge Artist Run Centre, St. John’s, NL, January

Current research projects and grants

Exhibitions (Solo & Group)

  • 2025 — (forthcoming) you’re alright, okay?, Craft Council Gallery, St. John’s, NL
  • 2023 — to keep your toes warm while you are home, curated by Mireille Eagan and Jessica Waterman (The Rooms, St. John’s) in partnership with Come From Away, Gander Arts and Culture Centre, Gander, NL
    • 2023 —blanket, Tina Dolter Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
    • They Knit, Anna Templeton Centre, St. John’s, NL
    • 2022 — home, made, Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studios, St. John’s, NL
  • 2020 — Pandemic Portraits, Grenfell Art Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
  • Present Tense: Michelle MacKinnon – Pandemic Portraits, The Rooms, St. John’s, NL
  • (em)brace, Eastern Edge Artist Run Centre, St. John’s, NL
  • 2019 - Pop-Up Exhibition, Union House Arts in association with the 
  • Bonavista Biennale, Port Union, NL
  • Labour Laws, Union House Arts, Port Union, NL
  • 2018 — A Rendering of the Once Familiar, Alison Milne Gallery, Toronto, ON
  • Touch, Trace, Feelwith Andrew Testa, 180 Projects, Sault Ste Marie, ON

 

Residencies

  • 2023 — Artist in Residence, by invitation, Tuckaway Farm, Apiary & Apothecary: Live Textiles Loom Shed, Melville, NL
  • 2022 — Artist in Residence (a collaborative project with Andrew Testa & Kelsey Street), Union House Arts, Port Union, NL
  • Artist in Residence, The Gathered Gallery, NL
  • 2019 - 2020 — Visiting Artist in Residence, Grenfell Art Gallery, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Corner Brook, NL (in progress 2019-2020)
  • Artist in Residence, Union House Arts, Port Union, NL

 

Grants

  • 2023 — Professional Artist Travel Fund, ArtsNL (Visual Art), NL
  • 2022 — Research and Creation Grant, Canada Council for the Arts

Professional Projects Grant, ArtsNL (Visual Art), NL

  • 2021 — Professional Projects Grant, ArtsNL (Visual Art), NL
  • 2023 — The Rooms, St. John’s, NL
  • 2022 — The Rooms Provincial Art Bank, John’s, NL
  • 2020 — Professional Projects Grant, ArtsNL (Visual Art), NL 
  • 2019 — Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council (Visual Art), ON
  • 2019 — Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Montreal, QC 
  • 2018 — Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council (Visual Art), ON 

 

Collections

  • 2020 — The Rooms, St. John’s, NL
  • Hew & Draw, Corner Brook, NL

 

Invited Talks

  • 2023 — Pandemic Portraits, Artist Talk, Union House Arts as part of the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Field School MFA/PhD intensive, Port Union, NL
  • 2022 — Grenfell Authors, Artist Talk, Ferriss Hodgett Library, Corner Brook, NL
  • Pandemic Portraits, Book Launch and Artist Talk, Grenfell Art Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
  • 2021 — Pandemic Portraits, Artist Talk, Grenfell Art Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
  • BYO UFOO, Maker’s Night Host, Grenfell Art Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
  • 2020 — Pandemic Portraits, Creative Practice in the Age of Coronavirus, Universities Art Association of Canada, Vancouver, BC (online)
  • between textiles and drawing…and a pandemic, Artist Talk, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
  • (postponed due to Covid-19)In An Absent Existence, Artist Talk, Grenfell Art Gallery, Corner Brook, NL
  • (em)brace, Artist Talk, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John’s, NL
  • 2019 — (em)brace: Between Textiles and Drawings, Domestic Encodings through Craft Objects, Universities Art Association of Canada, Quebec City, QC
  • Nooner, Artist Talk, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL
  • 2018 — Home, Invited Talk, Parmenius Society, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL
  • I know what you did last summer, Pecha Kucha, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL
  • Artist Talk for Drawing III, Department of Art, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
  • 2017 — Speaker: Faculty Q&A, Independent Projects in Studio Art VART 4951, Grenfell Campus Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL.

 

Awards

  • 2023 — Milestone Award, Nomination, Excellence in Visual Arts Awards, NL
  • 2021 — Artist of the Year, Nomination, ArtsNL, St. John’s, NL

 Artist of the Year, Longlist, ArtsNL, St. John’s, NL

  • 2020 — Arts in Education Award, Finalist, ArtsNL, St. John’s, NL
  • 2019 — Professional Development, for travel and costs associated with presenting at UAAC, Lecturers’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland, NL.