2023
28″x22″
Acrylic and watercolor on panel

Jacqueline Needham is a painter and sculptor from Calgary, Alberta. Working primarily in portraiture, her compositions oscillate between the boundary of the real and surreal. With a captivation in depicting the nuances of the female-identified experience, Jacqueline’s portraits explore our culture of looking and perception. Investigating the gaze through the lens of mental illness, her work provokes a profound exchange and intimacy between the subject and viewer. 

Her work prospects the notion that individuals can transcend their defining characteristics, evolving into simplistic figures, and questions if personal narratives inevitably tether individuals, hindering them from transforming into a symbolization of personhood.

In challenging viewers, Jacqueline’s work prompts a reconsideration of the intricacies of perception and the ever-evolving dynamics between observer and observed. Her artistic practice beckons viewers into a reflective space, urging them to contemplate the nuanced facets of identity.