Joyce J. ScottJoyce J. Scott

This retrospective of genre-defying artist and MacArthur Fellow Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948) showcases her expansive and versatile career. From early textiles and wearables, to performances and public artworks, to celebrated beaded sculptures and signature necklaces, her innovative oeuvre centers on the ancient, global technologies of needle and thread, beadwork, salvage, song, and storytelling. Interviews with Scott and essays from a group of artists and scholars explore this dynamic practice, rooted in place, community, and intergenerational knowledge. New photography and archival images reveal a body of work that makes difficult subjects intimately felt, confronting racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and histories of trauma through wearable art and sculpture. With humor and pathos, Scott twists menacing stereotypes into grotesque and tender retorts that spur conversation and reflection, grief and laughter, learning and healing.