On April 17, 5-8 pm, everyone is invited to the Opening Reception of the first of three thesis exhibitions by Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidates from the graduate program in Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo. The MFA Thesis exhibitions, presented by the Department and UWAG, give the campus and community-at-large an opportunity to see the end result of two years of intensive research and studio production by emerging visual artists.
The exhibition runs from April 17 to May 3.
Jordan MacDonald
The Okanagan
The Okanagan combines sculptural objects and drawing that reflect the emotional impact of separation, distance, and the desire for connection. Using the Early Sunrise peach as both metaphor and material, the works examine the complexities of longing and absence through a physical presence that is at once tactile and fragile. The unruly nature of the peach—its soft skin, messy juices, and inevitable decay—mirrors the fleeting and imperfect nature of intimacy. Felted peaches, porcelain pits, and charcoal stains come together to form a landscape of emotional weight, capturing the tension between wanting closeness and enduring temporal distance. The pieces convey a quiet disintegration of intimacy, the slow fading of connection, and the rawness of yearning. Through the scale and materiality of the work, viewers are invited to navigate the space like one navigates a life—filled with moments of presence and absence, connection and disconnection. With its visceral materials and emotional charge, the exhibition invites the viewer to reflect on their own experiences of distance and closeness. It is an invitation to engage with the embodied nature of longing and the profound impact of separation.
Jordan MacDonald (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist from the unceded territories of the Syilx peoples (Okanagan Valley, British Columbia). She received her BFA in Studio Art from the University of British Columbia in 2023 and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Waterloo, where she is a recipient of the prestigious Shantz International Research Scholarship. MacDonald recently had a solo show at the Kelowna Art Gallery, BC, and she has participated in numerous group exhibitions in regional and national venues. Primarily working in sculpture, her practice investigates absence, longing, and the complex relationships between place and memory. Artist's Website
Image credit: Jordan MacDonald, Fractured Traces (3 of 6), 2025, porcelain with natural avocado stain. Image courtesy of the artist. (bottom)
Cree Tylee
In any way I can
In any way I can explores the home as a site of memory, investigating loss and identity through material and spatial remembering. Drawing from a personal family archive, the work considers absence and presence, constructing a material dialogue between ‘then’ and ‘now’. Using both photographic and sculptural techniques, the work employs materials which are mapped into memory—such as the tiles that were once behind the wood stove or the raspberry bushes in the backyard—the installation engages with emotional geographies, exploring memory through image and form. Additionally, materials from the current home interact with archived objects, creating connections across time. The work traces the transformation of past physical homes into inner landscapes, evoking layered narratives of place, loss, and belonging. It observes the histories of objects which were once attached to these places, the people we see in them, and the relational aspects and discreet narratives that emerge through their presence.
Cree Tylee is an interdisciplinary artist exploring themes of presence and absence investigated through the family archive. Considering memory, emotional geographies, and material connections to place, her work engages with domestic and natural elements, considering how spaces and objects hold traces of lived experience. Tylee studied Analogue Photographic Arts and Ceramics at Haliburton School of Art + Design and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in the History of Art and Visual Culture from Brock University. Artist's Instagram
Image credit: Cree Tylee, The trailer on Mary Lane, 2024, raspberry, time, Hahnemühle paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
