Jessica Vaughn
Brooklyn, NY
Jessica Vaughn’s practice is directed by relationships and experiences in and outside of the studio, and considers how materials accumulate and inhabit spaces. With a studio process that is rooted in research, Vaughn’s multidisciplinary approach encompasses working with discarded and mass-produced materials to create artworks and installations that convey complex histories of place, production, and use. She received an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. Vaughn was an artist-in-residence at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council-Workspace, New York; and the Whitney Independent Study Program, New York. She is a 2020 Futures Fellow at the Clark Art Institute, a recipient of the Artadia NYC Grant, the Graham Foundation Research Grant, and the Printed Matter Inc./Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Publication series.
After Willis (rubbed, moved and used) #005 by Jessica Vaughn, 2017. 36 individual sets of used public transit train seats made of fiberglass and upholstery (Chicago Transit Authority 1998-2007) on wall.
Depreciating Assets: Variable Dimensions by Jessica Vaughn, 2019. Metal, lacquer paint and hardware. 4 individual sculptures. The interior metal frame structural support of office cubicles are turned on their side and in rows.
After Willis (rubbed, moved and used) #005 [detail] by Jessica Vaughn, 2017. 36 individual sets of used public transit train seats made of fiberglass and upholstery (Chicago Transit Authority 1998-2007) on wall.
South Beach Blue No. 389, # 2 by Jessica Vaughn, 2017. Transportation seating fabric scraps procured from manufacturer (09/2015-11/2016) on plexi.
Working Procedures
Jessica Vaughn’s practice is directed by relationships and experiences in and outside of the studio, and considers how materials accumulate and inhabit spaces.
Artist BioJessica Vaughn researches labor and government archives looking for where slippages occur between oral histories of workers and unions alongside the bureaucratic language inherent in institutions. Focusing on paraprofessionals, careworkers, and occupations that keep both private and state institutions running, Working Procedures examines the quotidian systems that dictate our understanding of labor, space, and inclusion. Through sculptures, drawings, and video, Vaughn looks at minimalism and its relationship to the history of US civil rights policy in the workplace.