By Meghan Power
Jude’s most recent solo exhibit opened in February 2023 at Massey Klein Gallery, in New York City. Revenants, showcases seven intensively detailed and handcrafted clay, carved wood, and cast aluminum sculptures to highlight, “the sense of erasure we create as a species when consuming other beings. Through packaging, marketing, processing, and preparation, corporeal transformations are engineered to appease our sympathies and comfort levels, as well as our palates and budgets.”
The word “revenant” refers to a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. Jude’s vibrantly animated sculptures depict hybrid bodies of animals such as chickens, pigs, prawns and oysters standing in their cooked and prepared states. “They demand a sense of reckoning. At once tragic, frightening, and humorous these sculptures operate within the emotional landscape of meat consumption that is suppressed by the corporate food industry. I aimed to subvert this sense of transformation inherent in meat preparation to re-empower bodies as fantastic revenants, reinvested with agency and possibility.”
The funding received from CADA was crucial in supporting Jude’s process: “This funding opportunity allowed me to experiment with new materials, create challenging work and exhibit on an international stage.” The exhibition was incredibly well attended and promoted by the Canadian Consulate in New York, and resulted in the representation of Jude’s work by the gallery as well as further opportunities, including a residency and inclusion in upcoming exhibitions in 2024 and 2025. Works from the exhibit were also acquired for collections in New York, Canada, and France.
Having the financial support from CADA afforded Jude to be able to work and create in Alberta. “As a province with deep roots in food production, it feels valuable to be creating new works in Alberta that question industrial models and understandings of our consumption habits. I am hoping that this new body of work can lead to important conversations surrounding our treatment of other species, industrial agriculture, consumption habits and food futures. I am currently creating further works in this series that I am hoping to present in Calgary and prairie venues. Remaining rooted within the prairie arts community also allows me to share knowledge surrounding these experiences with colleagues and younger artists through talks at universities and art centres in the province.”