Johnny Doley grew up surrounded by oak trees in Virginia, and now lives in the arms of an ash tree in Chicago. An avid birder, he spends his free mornings at Montrose Point, hanging out with the vireos and flycatchers. Johnny received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Boston University and was a Stoeckle Fellow at Yale Norfolk School of Art. He is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture here at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
My artistic practice revolves around connecting with the many different non-human neighbors that we share space with. I have recently been examining my relationship to wood, the body of a once living being, and they way, I, and others, make use of this this gift that these trees provide in death. I work alongside the materials/objects/things that I encounter to pose, and occasionally speak on, different ‘queries:’ an approach born out of a childhood spent in Quaker meetings. I aim to re-examine the human-centered concept of nature, question the hierarchy with which we assess what is alive, and advocate for expanding our awareness of the multitudes of non-human beings that we cross paths with every single day.