Jeanie Riddle engages with painting as an expanded language that defines itself through color, shape, space, process, transformation, tender care, (her version of) feminist activity, and play. She wrestles with new meaning from the isolated practice of working in the studio where applied knowledge, use of materials, art history, social constructs and personal politics come together to make art as well as delving into the inner work of understanding personal narrative and origin stories to deliver scenarios. She takes risks with her engagement of working in arenas associated with the feminine – décor, arrangements, beauty – ways that allow a further depth to her inquiry while she stealthy slides her work into abstraction. These material manifestations and her considered upcycling of looked for objects, are acts of precise selection and siting as Content.
She holds a MFA from Concordia (2005) and has attended residencies at El Sur, Mexico City, Casa Lü, Mexico City, Bemis Center, Omaha NB, Cite des arts Internationale, Paris,Triangle Arts, Brooklyn NY, and the Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been shown across Canada as well as in Mexico City, Brussels, Berlin and Paris. Her projects have been repeatedly supported by Canada Council for the Arts and the conseil des arts et lettres du Quebec. A professional cultural worker, Riddle was the founding director of Parisian Laundry where she established numerous artist’s careers. She has worked as a consultant, juror, educator and writer and presently, dedicates her time to her own established mid career practice. She currently lives and works in Montreal and Mexico City.