McKie, Judy (1944– )

US furniture designer. By the mid-1970s she was selling her individually designed wooden pieces and by 1979 was gaining national recognition in shows, commissions, and awards. Her fascination with primitive stylized animal motifs as seen in pre-Columbian, African, and American Indian art expresses itself in unique whimsical sculptural furniture incorporating carved and colourful animal forms. By the early 1990s she had taken to making some tables and benches in cast bronze.

McKie was born Judy Kensley in Boston, Massachusetts. A 1966 graduate in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, she first worked as a graphic designer and made cloth wall-hangings (several of which were used as tents at Woodstock). In 1971, she began making furniture for her own use; then in 1971 she joined the New Hamburger Cabinetworks Cooperative (then based in Boston, Massachusetts) and began learning about the techniques and tools of woodworking.