Jemila MacEwan

Artist Statement

I am known for my earthworks, installations and time-based projects created through slow acts of physical endurance, contemplation and meditation. My work takes an expansive view of time, ecology and geography. I create from an ecological and geological conception of time—both helical and entropic—my work unfolds as a ritual return, repeating across days, seasons, and years. I am here to be actively present with, and in connection to, the unfolding processes of our universe. My methods arise from the same ecological forces that shape the earth itself. Deep time, evolution, repetition, accretion, treating these forces as co-creative forces rather than metaphors. These projects are an aperture through which to behold the interconnectedness of our living planet. I believe repair of our lands and ecosystems is also a method for the regeneration of our social and cultural foundations.

Title: Dead Gods Year: 2021-ongoing Medium: Reishi mycelium, Pearl Oyster mycelium, Blue Oyster mycelium, Golden Oyster mycelium, hemp and rye substrate, custom grow-house (shrine) Dimensions: 8’ x 8’ x 8’ Description: ‘Dead Gods’ is a living monument that honors our prehistoric interspecies ancestors as sacred earthly deities. In an age where humans are driving one million species toward extinction, I am resurrecting a primordial terrestrial giant—Prototaxites, a mysterious eukaryotic organism that emerged 400 million years ago that pioneered the proliferation of life on land––by growing their likeness with fungi, their closest living descendants.

Bio

Jemila MacEwan (b.Scotland) is a conceptual artist known for earthworks, installations, films and durational performances that follow the rhythms of nature— celestial, meteorological, and biological, often unfolding over days, weeks and years. MacEwan was awarded the Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grant (2025) NYSCA/NYFA Fellowship in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design (2022), The Philip Hunter Environmental Art Fellowship (2022), The BigCi Environmental Award (2021) and is a TEDxBoston Planetary Fellow. MacEwan is the founding director of SUPR OMEN, a performance space opening in New York in 2026. MacEwan has presented work internationally including at; Museo Universitario de Ciencia y Arte, (México), ARoS Museum (Denmark), Pioneer Works (NYC), The Walker Art Center (USA), Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NYC), Cambridge University (UK), Skaftfell Center (Iceland) and has a permanent earthwork at WAMA Environmental Art Museum (Australia). They are alumni to many notable residencies including; Skowhegan, Art OMI, Yaddo, LMCC, BANFF and Ox-Bow School of Painting. Their work has been featured in Art in America, Boston Globe, Hyperallergic, and SFMoMA.


www.jemilamacewan.com