boyish as a birch tree
Logan MacDonald
Using memory as a site to explore place, familial relationships, and identity, boyish as a birch tree poses the question of who remembers and how that memory is shared. Referencing the rich tradition of heraldry, which utilizes symbolic imagery to identify families and institutions through coats of arms and to accompany official proclamations, Logan MacDonald rethinks and re-establishes signs and symbols, disrupting the colonial expectations of heraldry to explore the world around him.
Reflecting on the relationship between memory and time, MacDonald utilizes both familial and community histories to draw connections between generations. Looking to his father’s woodcarving practice, MacDonald invokes bodily memory through the repetition of forms and processes. The work proposes a past and present that operate in tandem, repeating and reflecting, back and forth.
boyish as a birch tree is presented within the context of family, community, and place, exploring how memory is gained, lost, and lives within us, moving between the personal, public, and social.
Logan MacDonald (b. 1979, Summerside P.E.I.) is a queer gay Canadian visual artist, curator, writer, educator and activist who focuses on queer, disability and Indigenous perspectives. He is of mixed-European and Mi’kmaw ancestry, who identifies with both his Indigenous and settler roots. Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, his Mi’kmaw ancestry is connected to Elmastukwek, Ktaqamkuk. His artwork has exhibited across North America, notably with exhibitions at L.A.C.E. (Los Angeles), John Connelly Presents (New York), Ace Art Inc. (Winnipeg), The Rooms (St. John’s), and Articule (Montréal). His work has been published in Canadian Art, C Magazine, and more. In 2019, MacDonald was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award and was honoured with a six-month residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. He is a graduate of Concordia University with a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies and a MFA in Studio Arts from York University. MacDonald is an Associate Professor in Studio Arts at the University of Waterloo.