Maggie May Jeffries is an emerging artist from lutruwita/Tasmania, based in nipaluna/Hobart. Inspired by a sense ofchildhood wonder, her botanical oil paintings explore the nature of remembering by layering plants, shadows and light.Central to her creative practice is a fascination with the detail found in our natural world, each painting becoming adocumentation of personal experience and reminiscent of childhood exploration. Recent painting processes have been exploring a sense of ‘rewilding’, Jeffries allowing compositions to evolve naturally, each assemblage of plantsinterweaving sensory experience and memory.
The other side of Jeffries’ practice involves an ongoing enquiry into creative collaborations. Working with Second EchoEnsemble, she collaborates with diverse artists, working with mediums distinct from her own. This interdisciplinary approach to making work continues to broaden Jeffries understanding of creative process, and in turn, inspires her painting practice. Jeffries’ most recent collaborative project ‘The Weather at Midnight’ with Digital artist Alex Moss,involves exploring expanded painting and the intricacies of sensory experience through interactive immersive audio-visual installations and live painting performance
Jeffries graduated with first class honours from the University of Tasmania in 2022. Studying Fine Art and Psychology, herpractice involves working with artists living with all abilities through mentoring, collaboration, and community engagement. Jeffries has completed artist residencies on King Island, Queenstown, Glover Country and Clifton Beach, as well as at the Rosamond McCulloch studio residency at the Cite Des Arts Internationale, Paris. In 2020, Jeffries received an artistfellowship to visit Creative Growth, in California, USA. In 2024 she was a resident studio artist at Contemporary ArtsTasmania, as well as selected as a finalist in the Women’s Art Prize Tasmania.
Exhibitions
