Statement
My paintings deal with sight, literally and as a metaphor for knowing. Sight, mediated by the biological limitations of our anatomy, is incomplete, meaning we rely on abstractions to make sense of material and immaterial reality. My work generates abstractions, reorganizing the perceivable to understand the whole from the parts.
My background in Physics and Biology informs my attention to visualization and the rendering of the speculative. This spring, I presented a body of work exploring the Kantian manifold—the raw, unorganized data of sensory experience prior to its synthesis by reason. In Kant’s framework, the manifold represents perception in its fragmented state: a field of unstructured stimuli. I see this philosophical model as analogous to scientific inquiry, where discrete observations are assembled into systems of understanding.
My current work extends this inquiry. Through diagramming, mapping, and a parallel writing practice, I explore how the manifold becomes perception, how the discrete becomes whole. I’m especially focused on the unit as a conceptual and visual motif—employing repeat patterns to test the boundaries of perception and aggregation.
Bio
Macy West is a Philly-based painter and art educator making work exploring artistic and scientific visualization. In 2021 Macy completed her BFA in Studio Arts from Louisiana State University where she also concentrated in Biological Sciences with special attention to the intersection of art and science for visual communication. From 2021-2023, Macy taught high school art and physics at a private school in Covington, Louisiana, an experience which embedded the desire for communication and learning to forever be closely tied to her artistic practice. Macy received her MFA Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA in May 2025. She is the co-editor of SENSUS Magazine.
Education
2025 MFA Painting, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 2025
2021 BFA with Honors Distinction and Summa Cum Laude, Painting and Drawing,
Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, May 2021
Professional and Teaching Experience
2025 Co-Editor SENSUS Magazine
2025 Adjunct Instructor, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA,
Foundations 2D Design
2025 Teen Arts Coordinator and Instructor, Glen Foerd, Philadelphia, PA
2023-2025 Graphics Media Center Manager and Designer, Philadelphia, PA
2021-2023 High School Art Teacher and High School Physics Teacher, Northlake Christian
School, Covington, LA (courses: Art I, II, III, AP Art and Physics).
2022-2023 Community Art Instructor, Saint Tammany Art Association, Covington, LA
2022 High School Cross Country Coach, Northlake Christian School, Covington, LA
2021 Teaching Assistant, Louisiana State University, College of Art and Design,
Baton Rouge, LA (courses taught: Introduction to Painting [Kelli Scott Kelley],
Spring 2021)
One and Two Person Exhibitions
2025 Manifold, Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA, February-March 2025
2021 Wrestling in Color, Frameworks Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA (with painter,
MaryJane Lukachick), April-May 2021
Group Exhibitions
2026 Harford 100-Mile Radius Exhibition, Chesapeake Gallery, Bel Air, MD
March-April (forthcoming)
2025 Emerge IX, Bond Millen Gallery, Richmond, VA, June
2025 Interlace, 82Parris Gallery, Portland, ME, May 2-23
2025 To see to view, Curated by Anthony Elms, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia
PA, May
2025 States of Change, Curated by Libby Rosa, Spruce Street Harbor Park,
Philadelphia PA
2025 CFEVA Exhibition at McKinsey and Company, Philadelphia, PA
2024 Fuzzy Forms, Stella Elkins Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2024 Echo-Systems, Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia PA, May 2024
2021-2023 Winter Artists Collection, Far Horizons Gallery, Folsom, LA
2021 BFA Student Thesis Show, LSU Union Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA, April-May
Grants, Awards, Residencies
2025 Fall 2025 Apprentice at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2025 TINGE Magazine, Issue 23, Cover Artist, May 2025
2020 LSU Discover Day Art & Design 1st Place, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, LA
Service
2025 Grizzly Grizzly Arts Collective Member
2024 Graduate Arts Collective (GAC), Officer, Tyler School of Art and Architecture
2021 Painter’s League, President, Louisiana State University