Upon entering the carefully curated space of the sculptor and installation artist Maddie McNeely, we are met with an intriguing, low-to-the-ground sculpture. Atop 168 uneven artisanal briquettes sits a giant crafted walnut cut in half. It is made of carved walnut wood, and its scale is as puzzling as it is inviting. On closer examination, we start noticing rough-edged pink ribbons – reminiscent of industrial flagging tape – gently interwoven with the briquettes, along with true-to-size glossy matches, a tiny toy-like axe, peach pits, fragments of ceramics retrieved on the shore, and many more embedded details. From the macro walnut to the micro axe, this sculpture-installation plays up different scales at once, all the while drawing on forests’ rich visual grammar.
Dubé, Joëlle. “Maddie McNeely.” Est-Nord-Est: Résidence été 2025, texte-témoin.