Bull In A China Shop: NICU Parenthood is on view in virtual presentation only.
Artist Statement
My multimedia artwork embraces change and glorifies caregiving. The boundaries between others and our own personal space, wanting to protect our medically-at-risk loved ones and the emotional toll of social isolation have been brought into higher relief by the covid-19 pandemic.
Bull in a China Shop, a cast-glass onesie from my firstborn visible inside a locked cabinet, embodies my jarring introduction to parenthood in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The social isolation required by lockdown highlighted these same emotions.
About the Artist
Jessica Witte’s sculpture, installation, drawings and events celebrate collaboration, labor, and change. She is a passionate advocate for accessibility and empowerment through art, whether leading a workshop or creating large-scale temporary, shifting drawings on the ground with others, even passersby. Her award-winning Birdseed Doilies project has been featured online by Stylus (London),Chicago Art Magazine, and St. Louis Public Radio. Her work has been featured in over fifty exhibitions at such venues as San Diego Art Institute, the Textile Center (Minneapolis, MN), Museum of Nebraska Art (Kearney, NE), Rockford Art Museum (Rockford, IL), Maas Gallery (Purchase, NY), Athens Institute of Contemporary Art (Athens, GA), and Woman Made Gallery(Chicago, IL). Seed the Change, her 400-foot-long temporary drawing in birdseed with the public on the Arch Riverfront was honored by the PAN Year in Review 2017.
© Jessica Witte