Lacey McKinney lives and works in Central New York. Her work has been exhibited in various solo and duo exhibitions including at the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse NY; Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ; and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her work has been shown at Pen & Brush, New York, NY; NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY; Novado Gallery, Jersey City, NJ; Urban Zen, New York, NY; and in Virginia, Washington, and throughout New York State. Her work can be found in numerous private collections and featured in publications including Huffington Post, ARTnews, Art Zealous, and Cultured Magazine, among others. Awarded artist residencies include McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina; Post Contemporary in Troy, New York; and Fremantle Arts Centre in Fremantle, Western Australia. She was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Keep NYS Creating grant in 2020.

McKinney stated "I utilize the alchemical qualities of various media such as painting, drawing, and analog alternative photography to explore embodiment, gender, and implications of power structures. I often reference the rich history and discordant nature of collage. The act of reconfiguration allows me to investigate how the body is shaped through social ordering in order to shift meaning via the subversion of images. I search for poetic forms and visual metaphors that point to ways in which people take up space in relation to one another and cultural expectations. For example, the meaning of a pair of crossed legs contrasts with those that are outstretched. I am curious about how beliefs can manifest physically, developing the flesh as a text that expresses our fears and desires. In doing so, I use my art practice as a tool to enact rearrangements that question the roles and dominance of images and image-makers. Approaching these politically charged issues, I aim to bring my own experiences and complicated relationships within hierarchies, where I do and do not benefit from the structures I am questioning."