Jessica Cadkin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in Napa, California. She received a BA in Sculpture and Painting from San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in group shows in northern California and internationally including Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, di Rosa Preserve, Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Root Division, and the Berkeley Art Center.
SELECT EXHIBITIONS 2021 TBD, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, California (March 2021)
2020 Castaways: Art from the Material World, The Robert Bateman Centre, Bateman Foundation, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (March 6 – September 27)
2019 8th Annual Autumn Lights Festival (installation), Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California (October 17 – 19)
Small Works, Contemporary Art Projects at Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri (October 1 – December 15) Member Show, Richmond Arts Center, Richmond, California
2018 Thread Count: New Directions in Fiber Art, Arts Benicia, Benicia, California (juror: Susan Taber Avila) Melting Point, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, California (January 11 – February 10, 2018)
2017 50|50, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California (juror: Jack Fisher, Jack Fisher Gallery) (September 1 – October 1, 2017) Wild, Root Division, San Francisco, California (juror: Marisa Aragona)
2016 HERE, Part 1: 2016 BAC Artists Annual Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California Autumn Lights Festival (Installation), Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California Whale Watching (installation), A Stark Project, Berkeley, California 2016 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California (juror: Lucía Sanromán, Director of Visual Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts)
2015 Autumn Lights Festival (Installation), Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California Botanica: All Things Plant Life, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California (jurors: Ken Harman, Director of Hashimoto Contemporary and Spoke Art and MacKenzie Stevens, Assistant Curator of the Hammer Museum)
2013 This Will Never Work, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, California (juror: Corrina Peipon, Assistant Curator, Hammer Museum) 45th Annual Textile Exhibit, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, California
2012 De-Mobbing, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California (curated by Brian Karl)
2011 California! Annual Juried Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California (jurors: Chandra Cerrito, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary and Svea Lin Sol, Swarm Gallery) Outlandish: Contemporary Depictions of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California (juror: Alison Gass, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) 43rd Annual Textile Exhibit, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, California Juried Annual 2011, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, California (selections by Paola Santoscoy, Lead Curator, 2010 Biennial of the Americas)
2010 Borders, Root Division, San Francisco, California (jurors: Julio Cesar Morales, Adjunct Curator, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Visiting Faculty, SFAI, Artist; Lucy Kalyani Lin, Artist, Independant Curator & Program Associate, SF Arts Commission; and Michelle Mansour, Executive Director, Root Division) 25th January Juried Show, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, California (juror: Kenneth Baker, Art Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle)
2009 4th National Juried Exhibition, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, California (juror: Janet Bishop, Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) Hare and the Hounds 2, 18 Reasons, San Francisco, California (un)Natural, di Rosa Preserve, Napa, California (curated by Michael Schwager)
2008 We Are California History, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, California 2008 National Juried Exhibition, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, California (jurors: Suzanne Baizerman, Former Curator, Crafts and Decorative Arts, Oakland Museum of California; and Kate Eilertsen, Interim Director of Visual Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF) Separation, Alignment, Cohesion, Cricket Engine Gallery, Oakland, California Hare and the Hounds, Blue Space Gallery, San Francisco, California
2007 7th Annual Art & Soul Festival (installation), Oakland, California New Visions 2007, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, California (jurors: Eduardo Pineda, Director of Education at the Museum of the African Diaspora; and Karen Kienzle, Assistant Director of Exhibitions, Education and Community Outreach at the de Saisset Museum) Linda Braz, Jessica Cadkin, and Jessica Serran (installation), West Oakland Train Station, Oakland, California 2007 Indoor Sculpture Exhibition, Santa Clara City Hall, Santa Clara, California 39th Annual Textile Exhibit, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, California Multiple Choice, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, California (juror: Marian Parmenter) 2007 January Juried Show, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes, California (juror: Patricia Watts, Chief Curator at the Sonoma County Museum)
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE / AWARDS 2012 Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Artist Residency (waitlisted) 2011 Ragdale, Artist in Residence 2011 Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Artist in Residence (awarded, not taken) 2010 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow (artist-in-residence) 2008 Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Artist-in-Residence, Alternate Artist 2007, Coordinator’s Award recipient for “31 Birds”, Multiple Choice, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, California
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY “MFA Never. 2016 Archive Project / Juried Exhibition.” Root Division. 2016. pg. 34
Swanson, Marina. “Fremont Art Gallery Presents Innovative Textile Exhibit.” The Pioneer: News, Arts & Culture for the East Bay. May 30, 2013.
Frock, Christian L. “De-Mobbing Invests in Different Futures at the Headlands Center for the Arts.” KQED Arts. February 26, 2012.
Chang, Dewitt. “How Things Are: Pro Arts’ Juried Annual 2011 surveys the field.” East Bay Express. December 8, 2010 “Borders.” Exhibition Catalogue. Root Division Gallery. Essay by Lucy Kalyani Lin. 2010.
Dalkey, Victoria. “Axis: The little gallery that could . . . go national.” The Sacramento Bee. 7 August 2009.
Kluth, Mary Anne. “‘(un)natural’ at the di Rosa Preserve.” Artweek. June 2009, Volume 40, Issue 5: pg. 12-13.
Farr, Kristin. “Epic Saturday: 18 Reasons’ Hare & Hounds.” KQED, www.kqed.org. 14 May 2009.
Hufstader, Louisa. “Group shows enliven spring art scene.” Napa Valley Register. 11 March 2009. “Jack Fisher – Marx & Zavattero – Chandler Baer Ridway – di Rosa Preserve – Little Tree 02.21.09.” Comment by AB (Alan Bamburger). Art Business. 2009. www.artbusiness.com “Artsheet.” Pro Arts Catalogue. June – September 2008. Exhibitions/Calendar/East Bay Open Studios “The Visual Movement with Jessica Cadkin.” The Visual Movement. 2007.www.thevisualmovement.com
KTVU Channel 2. News at Ten. September 1, 2007 (video clip)
Brandt, William. “Artists breathe life into depot.” Oakland Tribune. 30 May 2007. “Past Exhibits: Multiple Choice.” Sebastopol Center for the Arts, QuARTerly. Spring Summer 2007. Volume 18, Issue 2: Page 4
Walsh, Lexa. “Swarm Studios: A Conversation.” Swee(t)ART. March 2007.
Nature plays a predominant role in my work. I am deeply influenced by the natural world around me: the borderline where land and water come together, the undulating and synchronized movements of a flock of birds in flight, and the stark silhouette dormant trees cast in winter. I abstract these already abstracted shapes and forms to create pieces that are freed from their geographical, biological, and botanical reference.
My work frequently involves multiple parts: pieces that are separate yet work together to create a united whole. Although the individual parts function as pieces on their own, together they create a larger, complete image.
