Bethany MacKenzie (she/they) is a Queer Settler, emerging artist, and arts administrator currently based in eastern Ktaqmkuk, on the unceded homelands of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq (presently known as Newfoundland). They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts (2021) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and have been acting Director of Union House Arts (UHA) since the spring of 2022. On top of their personal practice and administrative work, she also sits on the board of ATLANTIS (The Association of Artist Run Centres in the Atlantic) as their treasurer (2022-24). MacKenzie was the recipient of the Newfoundland and Labrador BMO 1st Arts Award (2021) and most recently was graciously awarded the VANL-CARFAC Mary MacDonald Award (2024). 

 

As a fourth-generation military brat, MacKenzie uses labour and systems of routine as a means to explore the (in)visibility of “otherness” through land-body relationships, community, and Queer identity in temporal and rural spaces. Connecting to the sensitive and tender-hearted, they build upon and question how the social connotations and ‘rules’ within their own cultures have influenced the ways that she sees herself, her relationships, and her community; as enduring and ephemeral, as shielded and vulnerable, and as callous and empathetic as they are and can be. Their work embodies this through the personal symbols, motif, and camaraderie between handmade objects, garments, and sculptures that perform and subvert ideas of domestic labour, Queer aesthetic, and gendered expression among the working class.