Indigenous Artist Bio
As a landscape painter I participated in group shows from 1986 to 2006 including Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition; Robert McLaughlin Gallery Juried Show, Oshawa; Art Among the Ruins, Newburgh.
B.A. (Religious Studies), Queen’s University, 2001. B.Ed (Artist-in-Community Education), Queen’s University, 2002; Elliott Upitis Fellowship to study at Monterrey Internation School, Mexico; kindergarten teacher at Columbus American School, Colombia; elementary school teacher in Ontario; facilitated two student installations “The Faces of Prince of Wales” and “Growing with Character” at Hastings Prince Edward District public schools.
Member of Gallery 121, Belleville, 2006; group and solo show “Holy Gold” in 2008.
Member of OKWA, 2008; OKWA group shows at Window Gallery, Wilson Room Library, Tett Centre, Pump House Museum, Kingston; Parrott Gallery, Belleville; Etobicoke Civic Centre, Etobicoke. Juror for Expressions Show “Liminal/Subliminal”, Parrott Gallery, Belleville.
Email: mayajagger127@gmail.com Website/Social: www.mayajaggerimages.ca
Artist Statement
My art practice has been an ever evolving series of experiments, using a wide variety of media and themes. I like to create pieces that are richly textured. Although I began as a landscape painter, I now find myself intrigued by the challenge of collecting objects with different surfaces and colours, and assembling them into a cohesive whole that has some deeper meaning beyond mere surface.
My current experiments with collage and photo assemblage are my way of connecting to my grandparents, aunts and uncles whom I never knew. I inherited from my mother many boxes of old photo albums from pre-war Germany. I had never before seen the faces of these people, my lost family, and I was profoundly moved by that experience. I began to express my responses through new written word and collage works. I use these words and pictures to make a statement about family roots, remembrance, loss, connection and disconnection, and what happens when human beings are forced to take flight to survive.
