Jessica Stockholder (American-Canadian, b.1959) is a sculptor whose installation exhibits have made an impact on the art world by blending painting, sculpture, and the display environment into a single piece of artwork. Stockholder was trained in art at Yale University, eventually earning her MFA at the institution. She is considered to be a pioneer in the installation art movement, a movement that blends consumer and household items with traditional art elements. Each of Stockholder’s installations is created specifically for the site in which they're placed. This makes her art incredibly unique, as moving it from site to site often alters its impact, especially when some of her installations extend through site doors and windows. The artist uses the site as a base for her work, building onto it to complete her installation. At Yale, Stockholder held dual positions as a director and as a professor of graduate studies in sculpture, until 2011, when she accepted a faculty chair at the University of Chicago, chairing the school's department of visual arts.
Stockholder's work has been widely exhibited all over the world. It's been seen at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York, SITE in Santa Fe, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, among other locations. Some of her best-known works include Peer Out to See, produced in 2010, and Growing Rock Candy Mountain-Grasses in Canned Sand, created in 1992.
Throughout her career, Stockholder has produced several articles on art techniques and figures as well as a collection of poems. Some examples of her writings include Swiss Cheese Field-and Sculpture Mingled, covering the concept of the field in artwork, Elizabeth Murray at MoMA, speaking on an influential figure in art, and TV Tipped Toe Nails & the Green Salami, a sample of her poetry.
Stockholder's work has earned her an honorary DFA from the Emily Carr College of Art. Her work is represented by several galleries throughout North America and Europe. These galleries are Michell-Innes & Nash in New York, 1301PE in Los Angeles, Barbara Edwards Contemporary in Toronto, Carreras Mugica in Bilbao, Max Estrella Galeria de Arte Madrid, Galerie Nachst St Stephan in Vienna, Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris, and Galleriea Raffaella Cortese in Italy.