Jacqueline Winsor facts for kids

Vera Jacqueline Winsor (born October 20, 1941 – died September 2024) was a famous sculptor from Canada who later became an American citizen. Her art style, which began in the early 1970s, was a fresh take on sculpture. It was often called "post-minimal" or "anti-form" art. This meant she used different materials and methods than the "minimal" artists before her.

Jackie's sculptures often showed her own life experiences. She liked to use simple shapes and balanced forms. But instead of using factory-made materials, she preferred natural, handmade things like wood and hemp.

Her work was shown in many important art exhibitions. In 1979, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a big show of her art. This was a special event because it was the first time MoMA had shown a major collection of art by a woman artist since 1946.

Early Life and Learning

Vera Jacqueline Winsor was born on October 20, 1941, in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. She was the second of three daughters. Her family had a long history of being sea captains and farmers in Canada. Jackie grew up in a traditional way.

A big part of her teenage years was spent helping her dad build houses. One of her jobs was to straighten old nails and hammer them down. This simple action later became a part of her own art. Her family moved often in the 1940s because of her father's job, living in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

In 1952, Jackie and her family moved to the United States, settling in Boston, Massachusetts. The busy city life of Boston was a big change for her. She often went back to Newfoundland during her summer breaks.

Jackie started studying art formally at the Massachusetts College of Art. There, she focused on painting. It wasn't until she went to graduate school at Rutgers University, from 1965 to 1967, that she started trying out sculpture. She earned her bachelor's degree (B.F.A.) in 1965 and her master's degree (M.F.A.) in 1967. At Rutgers, she met other artists like Keith Sonnier, whom she married in 1966, and Joan Snyder. After graduating, the three artists moved to New York City.

Jackie Winsor's Art Career

Jackie Winsor's art is known for being "process art," "anti-form," and "eccentric abstraction." This means she focused on how the art was made and used unusual materials and shapes. She often used simple geometric shapes like the cube and the sphere. She believed that her art pieces were connected to moments in her life, even if not directly to specific personal events.

In the late 1960s, Jackie and other artists like Lynda Benglis and Eva Hesse started a new direction in modern sculpture. This new style was called "Postminimalist." These artists wanted to create new forms using unexpected materials. They also wanted their art to have deeper meaning.

Jackie's first sculptures in New York used materials that were considered "anti-formal." These included rubber sheets, tubes, cords, and even hair. She also started working with rope dipped in latex or polyester resin to make linear shapes. One of her first important pieces was Rope Trick. It was a six-foot-tall length of rope with a metal rod inside to keep it standing.

Even though her art looked a bit like minimalist work, Jackie's sculptures were different. She didn't want to separate herself or her experiences from her art. She believed that an artist's work shows who they are inside. Her rope pieces, for example, connected back to her family's history of sea captains. She even said that the ropes she used "might be used to tie an ocean liner to its dock."

An important influence for Jackie was the American dancer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer. Rainer's work was experimental and aimed to bring the human body and movement back into art. Her performances often involved specific actions or tasks. This influenced Jackie to think about how art is made, its materials, space, and how it feels. Jackie showed her skill as an object-maker by creating works with clear material strength.

She was also known for her thick rope pieces, often using 4-inch rope combined with natural wood. Jackie kept a special sculpture in her studio: a plain, solid concrete sphere, over a foot wide. For her, it was a perfect symbol of how dense and solid things can be.

Later in her career, Jackie Winsor taught art at SVA in New York City.

Famous Artworks

• Double Bound Circle: This artwork is a single piece weighing 600 pounds. It coils around itself, showing a strong, circular form.
• Chunk Piece: Created in 1970, this is a huge bundle of 4-inch rope pieces. The ropes are all cut to the same length, about four feet, and are tied together very tightly.
• Nail Piece: Also made in 1970, this sculpture is a 7-foot-long stack of wood planks. They are put together and are heavily nailed to each other at every layer, showing the process of building.

Art and Feminism

Jackie Winsor's work was part of an exhibition called "More than Minimal: Feminism and Abstraction in the '70s" in 1996. This show featured artists whose work was seen as going against the "macho-minimalist" sculpture movement of the time.

Even though her art was often linked to feminist ideas, Jackie herself said that she didn't focus on feminism in her work. She explained that feminism was a political movement that supported the life she had, and she fully supported it. However, she didn't have a direct interest in making her art about feminism.

Personal Life

Jackie Winsor was married to fellow artist Keith Sonnier from 1966 until they divorced in 1980. She passed away from a stroke in September 2024, at the age of 82.