Johnny McCaffrey

Bio

Johnny McCaffrey (they/them) is a queer and trans woodworker and sculptural artist raised north of Kansas City in Weston, MO, and has been living in Olympia, WA for the past 10 years. Their work focuses on themes of reclamation, reinvention, curiosity, disruption, and justice both conceptually and materially. Reclamation of material, history, place, and stories plays a vital role in all their creative pursuits. Craft and art making have been a through-line in all areas of their life – from a familial lineage of makers to their work as an art installer, handler, home builder, and carpenter. Johnny earned their BFA in Craft and Fine Art from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, in 2021, attended Penland School of Craft in 2023 for a fall concentration in woodworking, and recently completed a yearlong  Artist Residency at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN.

Artist Statement

Cardboard boxes are often forgotten and abused guardians of so much of our material lives. From moving homes to protecting all our online ordered goods and even the final bassinet cradling a person before cremation. Cardboard boxes are ubiquitous heroes, acting as profound symbols of our material existence. These carved boxes command the viewer to reconsider their relationship to these vessels. They exist to offer an opportunity to consider where they came from, their importance in our everyday lives, and the implications of modern consumerism.

Exhibitions