In her approach, Jaq Belcher keeps in mind how to draw on her bright white surfaces without adding or subtracting physical components. Instead, Belcher cuts into the paper, manipulating light and shadow organized into patterns that evoke natural phenomena in shape and form. The cuts made to create her repeated forms, and the time it took to make them, are then carefully notated along the bottom of each drawing. The focus on reduction and repetition require a focused stillness and, for Belcher, are a testament to the practice of being completely present in the moment.

In 1993 Jaq Belcher was awarded the State prize for the emerging artists from Craft Victoria. She has received a number of awards from the National Academy for abstract drawing including the Mary Hinman Carter Prize. She was the recipient of a six month residency at the Factory, Mott Haven, the Bronx where she also had her first solo show at Haven Arts in 2005. Her work is in numerous private collections in Australia, Asia and the USA. Reviews of Belcher’s work have appeared in The New York Times, Chronogram Magazine and Nashville Arts Magazine, amongst others. 

_____

Born in Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in New York City


Education

2005
National Academy School of Fine Arts, Master Drawing Class, New York

1999
Master of Arts Admin, Major Sculpture, University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, AU

1997
B.F.A (Gold & Silversmithing), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, AU

1993
Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts), The University of Melbourne, AU


Solo Exhibitions

2011
Suchness, Tinney Contemporary, Nashville, TN

2005
Preliminary Realms, Haven Gallery, Bronx, NY 


Select Exhibitions 

2017
Hoping for Clear Skies, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2016
Summer Breeze, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2015
Reconfigured, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2014
Somewhere Between Creation & Destruction, Joseloff Gallerym Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT
Pulp Culture:Paper is the Medium, The Morris Museum Morristown, NJ
Fold, Paper, Scissors, Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Select Cuts & Alterations, Foley Gallery, New York, NY

2013
Catch as Catch Can, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Shadow and Light, Tinney Contemporary, Nashville, TN
PaperWorks: The Art and Science of an Extraordinary Material,  The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
Paper Cuts, Curated by Reni Grower, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH

2012
Cut, Drawn, Painted: Works on Paper, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
A Cut Above - 12 Paper Masters, Christoper Henry Gallery, New York, NY
Paper Cuts, Curated by Reni Grower, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH

2011
White-Hot, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Divergent Affinities, Wexler Gallery, Philidelphia, PA

2010
The West at Sunset, Abrons Art Center, Lower Eastside, NY
Cut it Up, Anne St Gallery, Newburgh, NY

2009
Drawing, Margaret Thatcher Projects, Chelsea, NY
Cutters, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ & Hunter College Gallery, New York, NY

2008
Process/Presence, Art League of Long Island, Long Island, NY
183rd Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
Solos, Haven Arts, Bronx, NY
White Out, 3 East 66th St, New York, NY 
Drawing Revealed, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY 

2007
Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts open studio, New York
Bronx Studio Art Tours, Bronx, New York 

2006
Paperworks, Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney, Australia 
13 Women On 13 Walls, Haven Gallery, Bronx, NY 
Slowly, Slowly, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, Australia 

2005
Visual Aids, Robert Miller Gallery, Chelsea, NY
Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, New York ,NY 

Awards 

2008
Dessie Greer Award for graphics, National Academy Museum, New York, NY 

2005
Mary Hinman Carter Prize, National Academy School of Fine Arts 

2004
Mixed Media Award, Cash Prize, National Academy School of Fine Arts 

2003
Highly commended, Drawing, National Academy School of Fine Arts 

1993
Fresh Award for emerging artists, Craft Victoria