People

Jamie Boyle is an artist who works with a variety of weaving and fiber techniques. Generally speaking, their work responds to the condition of living with chronic illness. The unpredictability of bodies—and, specifically, the unpredictability and fluidity of the body they live in—informs and tunes the way that they think about and engage with art making. Put plainly, their work is a process of sudden encounter followed by, and amidst, necessary slowness.

Jamie received a BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Pittsburgh, after studying ballet at Indiana University, Contemporary Dance at The Ohio State University, and experiencing the onset of a chronic illness that radically and suddenly altered their body’s capacity for movement. Still looking to be near dance, they returned to The Ohio State University where they received an MFA in Art, with an emphasis in sculpture. Jamie’s first weaving teacher was artist Ann Hamilton, in whose studio Jamie worked for several years after having studied with her in graduate school. Subsequently, in New York City, Owyn Marisol Ruck, Kira Silver, Isa Rodrigues, Kelly Valetta, and Jose Picayo taught Jamie how to use a floor loom as a tool for weaving. In addition to weaving in New York City, Jamie frequently collaborated with artists to create material stuff (props, costumes, or set components) for dance and theater productions, working with Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacy (The Set Up), Faye Driscoll (Thank You for Coming: Play), Ursula Eagly (piece with gaps for each other), Siti Company with Ann Hamilton (the theater is a blank page), and Geoff Sobelle (The Object Lesson), among others. Jamie has participated in artist residencies at the Textile Arts Center, (Brooklyn, NY); the Museum of Arts and Design, (New York, NY); through the SU-CASA program administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council; and Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA). Deeply invested in sharing the teachings of those who have influenced them, Jamie has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Public Schools, The Museum of Arts and Design, Textile Arts Center, Contemporary Craft, and various community settings in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh.