CV AND ARTIST STATEMENT

Background Details

CV

Education

2020-current  In progress to Masters of Fine Art, Winthrop University, Rockhill, SC

2018               Bachelors of Art in Painting, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

2016               Accademia del Arte, Arezzo, Italy, Summer Program

Exhibitions

2020    Art at a Distance-American Life in Isolation, Art Works, Richmond, VA

            Go Figure! SAA Collective Gallery Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL

            Water & Oil, William H. Miller Studios, Myrtle Beach, SC

            Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum’s 9th Annual Collectors’ Event, Collector’s Café and Gallery, Myrtle Beach,                 SC

2019    Reclaimed! Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Fayetteville, NC

            Perspectives: America, Specto Art Space, Harrisonburg, VA

            Real People 2019, Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock, IL

            Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum’s 8th Annual Collectors’ Event, Collector’s Café and Gallery, Myrtle Beach,               SC

2018   Senior Exhibition, Coastal Carolina University, SC

Awards, Fellowships, Honors

SP 2018                 Cum Laude, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

2016-2018             Phi Sigma Pi Honor Fraternity, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

SP 2015- SP 2017 Dean's List, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC FA 2017 President's List, Coastal Carolina                                             University, Conway, SC

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Bibliography (Reviews and Features)

WPDE News Channel 13, review of leading KidsArt Programing and COVID-19 adaptations. (multiple interviews                   through WPDE),

       “Education Corner with Tracey Roode and Devann Gardner”. Villa Voice, December 2019,                                                 

Kisner, Joshua, “Myrtle Beach Art Museum hires CCU alumna as new art educator”. The Horry Independent Business          Journal, July 1, 2019,                          e/page_9bf1d3b6-2c6a-5044-88bb-e20ad08c05a0.html

Morgan, Janet, "Coastal Carolina University students paint mural in North Myrtle Beach", The Sun News, June 20,                 2017,

Professional Experience

2020               Private Tutor due to COVID-19, Elementary & College level, Myrtle Beach, SC

2019-current Children’s Art Educator, Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC

2019-current Private Fine Arts Tutor, ages 5-15 across Myrtle Beach- North Myrtle Beach and Conway, SC areas.

2019              Painting Assistant to Sculptor Jim Swaim, Longs, SC

2018              Art Education Intern, Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC

2018              Painting Instructor, Wine and Design, North Myrtle Beach, SC

2017              North Myrtle Beach Masonic Lodge Mural, Collaboration with ARTS 499 class, Under the instruction of                               Cat Taylor, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

2017              Composite Photography, Induction, Phi Sigma Pi, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

Related Experience

SP 2016         Life Drawing Model, ARTS 212 under the instruction of Treelee

                            MacAnn, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

FA 2017- SP 2016      Art History Tutor, Coastal Carolina University, Conway

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work grows from experiences and failures and changes their perspective. I find myself fixated on how nostalgia evokes certain emotions and shapes perspectives. Portraiture is visually intriguing and the process of building a portrait is just as fascinating as shaping the argument. I use portraiture to attach a human element to emotions and it humanizes the experience that may otherwise be detached from the viewer. I am interested in distorting the portrait just enough to remove their identity and create an invasive atmosphere by pushing the figures to the foreground and limiting the background space. It creates a spatial discomfort and confrontation with the emotion rather than the individual. The figure is representative of anyone who fills the narrative. My study of nostalgia has uncovered that while the stories have different structures, the themes provoke the same sentiments through the universal feeling of empathy. The identity no longer matters to the individual as the familiar, uncomfortable memory becomes the face. My work reflects a universal theme but ultimately stems from my own background. I touch on sensitive subjects from my past as a way of processing and learning from them. The core of my paintings and research stem from my father’s alcoholism and infidelity resulting in bringing a new sibling into my life.