BIO
JADE MIKELL (b. 1996) is a disabled artist and activist. She lives on unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən land by way of unceded Taystayič. She earned her BFA with Distinction (cum laude) from the University of Victoria in 2023.
Mikell works in painting, sculpture, installation, words, movement and (upcoming) sound to investigate subjects like inheritance, labour, hierarchy, social currency and sustainability through the lens of disability. Recent work has cited her lived experiences in Anthroposophy and undergoing ABA therapy to emphasise the demoralising and endangering effects of institutional inaccessibility. Mikell often inspects the moral inadequacy assigned to disability in these environments through repurposing associated semiotics, often posited to have curative effect.
in production, Mikell locates supplies entirely from sources which interrupt the sequence of consumption and disposal; upcycled, salvaged, and repurposed materials. Mikell is interested in how accessibility and sustainability often conflict, and intends to question how we might practise sustainability and conservation without relying on exclusion.
Jade Mikell’s work has been exhibited and collected internationally. Her work has been exhibited by Visionary Projects NYC, The Fifty Fifty Arts Collective, Audain Gallery, B.L.O.C.K.H.O.U.S.E. and more. Her most recent international solo exhibition, Vuelve, Oración en el Cielo opened earlier this year at Casa Lü—El Sur in México City, presenting Mikell’s research which compared how migratory birds and disabled bodies navigate climate instability. Her work has been published on ArtConnect, Behind Art (formerly Parrot), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and more. Awards for Mikell include a Canada Arts Council Explore and Create (Research and Creation) Grant, an Innovate Grant Honourable Mention and a MyMa Art Grant Honourable Mention.
CV
EDUCATION
2023 Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction (cum laude), Visual Arts, University of Victoria
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Combine Elegies, BATW, Victoria, BC
2025 Vuelve, Oración en el Cielo, Casa Lü—El Sur, México City, México
2024 Tender Feet, The Fifty-Fifty Arts Collective, Victoria, BC
2023 Vertu Individuelle et l’Unité: Into The Blue, Fernwood Gallery, Victoria, BC
2022 Easement: An Assemblage, Four Corners Community Collective, Victoria, BC
2021 Dépouille, Earth Club Factory, Denman Island, BC
2020 Bending, Township, Victoria, BC
2018 Quaintrelle, Denman Island Arts Centre, Denman Island, BC
2018 Forme, Earth Club Factory, Denman Island, BC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Hektor’s Birthday, Hektor, Lanzarote, Islas Canarias, Spain
2025 Paper Assembly, Ministry of Casual Living, Victoria, BC
2024 Cool Off, Visionary Projects, New York, NY
2023 Don’t Need To Know To Feel It, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
2022 Bread and Butter, The Audain Gallery, Victoria, BC
2022 Killjoys, The Audain Gallery, Victoria, BC
2022 The Practice, Habit, Victoria BC
2022 Ghostly, 100% Silk Shop, Toronto, ON
2021 Summer Camp, B.L.O.C.K.H.O.U.S.E. Victoria, BC
2021 Keep It Alive, Gallery 1313, Toronto, ON
2021 Emerge, Esquimalt Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
2021 SP Loves You, Four Corners Community Collective, Victoria, BC
2020 Unknowing, Fossik Gallery (online)
AWARDS + RESIDENCIES
2025 Explore and Create (Research and Creation) Grant, Canada Council for the Arts
2025 Casa Lü—El Sur, México City, México
2024 Hektor, Lanzarote, Islas Canarias, Spain
2024 Honourable Mention, MyMa Art Grant
2024 Honourable Mention, Innovate Grant
2023 Greenhouse Residency, Rockslide Gallery, Victoria, BC
SELECTED PRESS
2025 ArtConnect “Best of the Week” Feature x 2, ArtConnect, Berlin, Germany (online publication)
2025 Exposiciones de lxs Artistas en Residencia Onda MX, México City, México
https://ondamx.art/es/cdmx/evento/Exposiciones
2024 Jade Mikell’s Anthroposophic Semiotics Innovate Artist Grants (online publication).
https://innovateartistgrants.org/interview-jade-mikell-anthroposophic-semiotics
2024 ArtConnect “Best of the Week” Feature, ArtConnect, Berlin, Germany (online publication)
2024 “Without my disabled body, my work would not exist”: Interview with Jade Mikell, Behind Art (formerly Parrot), (online publication).
https://parrotart.io/article/1714465229557x930763435570364400
2024 A New Art Exhibit at The Fifty Fifty Arts Collective in Victoria, explores the intersection between family, disability and hard physical labour, CBC, Victoria BC. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-48-on-the-island/clip/16033133-a-art-exhibit-fifty-fifty-arts-collective-victoria
2021 Meet Jade Mikell, SP Gallery, Victoria BC
2020 Au/Artistic, Vestige Story, Vancouver BC
2019 space: Jade Mikell, Notary Ceramics, Portland, OR
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2025 Artist’s Talk, El Sur
2023 Featured Artist’s Talk, Fernwood Gallery
2023 Assistant, Elysha Rei PWFC Residency artist talk in assoc. with Nikkei Australia
2022-2023 Documentation Committee Chair, University of Victoria
2021 Visiting Artist Feature, University of Victoria, Department of Psychology
2021 Sculpture Instructor, Esquimalt Art Gallery
2020-2021 Student Mentor, University of Victoria Visual Arts Student Association