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“Disarm” is an original mixed-media assemblage by Vancouver artist Chelsea MacKay: a 17th-century needlepoint reworked with enamel paint, metal zap ties, and miniature soap bars. From “Borrowed Intimacy – a retrospective of heartbreak and other injuries” (2026), Chelsea MacKay’s solo exhibition at Fingerprint Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
A centuries-old domestic artifact is bound and preserved in equal measure — the zap ties suggest restraint, the soap bars cleansing and repair. Like much of the exhibition, the work holds a tension between damage and healing, concealment and exposure, treating its found materials as both archive and excavation.
Chelsea MacKay (b. 1980, Hornby Island) is a Vancouver-based artist of Anishinaabe and Scottish descent working in sculptural installation, painting, and video. She holds an MFA from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Design from Emily Carr University, and studied joinery at BCIT. Her work draws on the aesthetics of the late 1990s and early 2000s alongside surrealist, Classical, and religious iconography.
2026 · 17th-century needlepoint, enamel paint, metal zap ties, mini soap bars
One-of-a-kind original artwork · Fingerprint Gallery, Vancouver, BC · Ships worldwide · Inquiries: jack@fingerprintgallery.ca
“Disarm” is an original mixed-media assemblage by Vancouver artist Chelsea MacKay: a 17th-century needlepoint reworked with enamel paint, metal zap ties, and miniature soap bars. From “Borrowed Intimacy – a retrospective of heartbreak and other injuries” (2026), Chelsea MacKay’s solo exhibition at Fingerprint Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
A centuries-old domestic artifact is bound and preserved in equal measure — the zap ties suggest restraint, the soap bars cleansing and repair. Like much of the exhibition, the work holds a tension between damage and healing, concealment and exposure, treating its found materials as both archive and excavation.
Chelsea MacKay (b. 1980, Hornby Island) is a Vancouver-based artist of Anishinaabe and Scottish descent working in sculptural installation, painting, and video. She holds an MFA from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Design from Emily Carr University, and studied joinery at BCIT. Her work draws on the aesthetics of the late 1990s and early 2000s alongside surrealist, Classical, and religious iconography.
2026 · 17th-century needlepoint, enamel paint, metal zap ties, mini soap bars
One-of-a-kind original artwork · Fingerprint Gallery, Vancouver, BC · Ships worldwide · Inquiries: jack@fingerprintgallery.ca