Shona Macdonald (born 1969) is a Scottish artist and academic. She is Professor of Art at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

Early life and education

Macdonald was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland. She received a BFA from the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

in 1991 and an MFA in

studio art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

in 1996.

Academic career

Macdonald's teaching career began in 1998 at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

where she was Associate Professor of Art. She has been a professor at

since 2006

Art

Macdonald has been a practicing artist since the mid-1990s. Since 2013 she has made paintings of reflected rain in various guises. Between 2013 and 2017, her work exhibited metaphorical associations of inversion and reflection, such as states of disorientation. In 2018, she shifted focus by 'zooming in' closer, capturing raindrops circling onto groundwater. These newer paintings fracture previously legible images into ripples. Originating in

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

and

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, she engages with analog and digital, moving between collage, photocopies, projections, tracings, and drawing. She then uses paint diluted with stand oil and neo-megilp on neutral-toned

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

creating a sheen that emulates the surface of water. Macdonald makes drawings inspired by

row cover In agriculture and gardening, row cover is any transparent or semi-transparent flexible material, like fabric or plastic sheeting, used as a protective covering for plants, usually vegetables. Covers are used to extend growing seasons, and red ...

ings and

cold frame In agriculture and gardening, a cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground, used to protect plants from adverse weather, primarily excessive cold or wet. The transparent top admits sunlight and prevents heat escape via ...

s dotted around the local

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as "western Mass," is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and univ ...

landscape. She uses both small, intimate (5 in. x 9 in.) and large, physical (up to 8 feet wide) scales in her work. Her current (as of 2020) painting series are titled ''Sky on Ground'' and ''Ground Covering'', where "ground" is both a noun and a verb: the earth beneath our feet, and the act of anchoring and situating a body in place. Her work is influenced by many sources including the

Kano School Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

, particularly the work of

Kano Tanyu Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

, Latvian artist

Vija Celmins Vija Celmins ( ;Hilarie M. Sheets and Randy Kennedy (September 24, 2015)''New York Times''. ; ; born October 25, 1938) is a Latvian American visual artist best known for photo-realistic paintings and drawings of natural environments and phenomen ...

, and Chicago artist and former professor Julia Fish. Since 2008, Macdonald has been represented by Cynthia-Reeves Gallery in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Selected exhibitions

;Solo * Tarble Arts Center at

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

(2015) *

Roswell Museum and Art Center The Roswell Museum (formerly Roswell Museum and Art Center) was founded in 1936 and is located in Roswell, New Mexico, United States. The museum features exhibits about the art and history of the American Southwest The Southwestern United S ...

, Roswell, New Mexico (2011) * Cleve Carney Museum of Art at the

College of DuPage College of DuPage is a Public college, public community colleges in the United States, community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates satellite campuses in Addison, Illinois, Addison, Carol St ...

, Illinois (2007) In May, 2021, she will open a solo show at the Zillman Art Museum at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. ;Group * Duxbury Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts (2019) *

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) () is a modern art museum serving the Chicago area with an ongoing program of cultural exhibitions, literary events, film screenings, and music recitals. UIMA was founded in 1971 by Dr. Achilles Chrept ...

, Chicago, Illinois (2018) *

Lynden Sculpture Garden Lynden Sculpture Garden (formerly the Bradley Sculpture Garden) is a 40-acre outdoor sculpture park located at 2145 West Brown Deer Road in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in Milwaukee County. Formerly the estate of Harry Lynde Bradley and Margaret (Peg ) B ...

, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012) * Glenbow Art Museum, Calgary, Alberta (2011) *

McMaster Museum of Art The McMaster Museum of Art (MMA) is a non-profit public art gallery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The museum is located in the centre of the campus, attached to Mills Memorial Library and close to the McMaster University Student Cen ...

, Hamilton, Ontario (2011) *

Chelsea Art Museum The Chelsea Art Museum (CAM) was a contemporary art museum located at 556 West 22nd Street on the corner of Eleventh Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The museum focused on post-war European art. The museum was ...

, New York, New York (2011) *

Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is a general-interest museum located on the Ohio riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1904, it is one of Southern Indiana's most established and significant cultura ...

, Evansville, Indiana (2009) * Telfair Art Museum, Savannah, Georgia (2006) *

Evanston Art Center The Evanston Art Center is an arts center in Evanston, Illinois offering classes, lectures, exhibitions, and Outreach, community outreach. It is among the oldest and largest arts centers in Illinois. History The Evanston Art Center was founded ...

, Evanston, Illinois (2005)

Selected collections

Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art (AMoCA) is an American art museum founded in 1994 and located in Roswell, New Mexico. The museum was formed from the Roswell Artist-in-Residence (RAIR) program, and displays work from the former participants. ...

, Roswell, New Mexico * Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Iowa City, Iowa *

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system ...

, Carbondale, Illinois *

University of Michigan Medical School The University of Michigan Medicine (branded as Michigan Medicine) is the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It consists of the university's Medical School, affiliated hos ...

, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Selected reviews

* . * (interview with curator Sophia Zutautus from the

Chicago Cultural Center The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Cultural Center houses the city's official reception venue, where the Mayor of Chicago, M ...

). * . * .

Awards

Macdonald is the recipient of a grant from the

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

, a nominee for a Louis Comfort Tiffany award, and a recipient of an

Illinois Arts Council The Illinois Arts Council is a government agency of the state of Illinois formed to encourage development of the arts throughout Illinois. Founded in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Arts Council provides financial and technica ...

finalist award. She was the Roswell

Artist-in-Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

in 2010–2011.

Other

Macdonald frequently presents her research in public lectures, symposia and panels, including at the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understan ...

Conference and the

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

. She has been a visiting artist over fifty times including international venues such as

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

(

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand),

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

and

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

(

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada), and

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

(

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada).

Personal life

Macdonald moved to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

in 2006. She lives and works in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. She is married to Eric Salus and has three children: daughter, Isla Salus, and sons, Bram and Fenno Salus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Shona Living people 20th-century Scottish women artists 21st-century Scottish women artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art British art educators Artists from Aberdeen Scottish women artists University of Illinois Chicago alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty 1969 births