CV AND ARTIST STATEMENT
ARTIST STATEMENT
I explore the malleability of memory through experiencing the warped sense of nostalgia. Individual identities are formed through the experiences each person has and those experiences become memories. We trust our memories to be the truth. However, memory can be fabricated or altered by many factors. This blurs the line between real and imagined. The malleability of memory distorts our perception of reality and this creates a warped sense of the truth.
Childhood memories are dishonest and manipulative, clouded by the lighthearted perspective children have. When analyzed with the knowledge of lived experiences, the meaning of them are completely changed. I mimic the sense of comfort associated with childhood, but I layer in the sense of discomfort to shift the perspective between memory and reality, play and responsibility, child and adult.
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Through the collapse of multiple media of performance, sculpture, and installation with video I create an ambiguity and allow for multiple narratives to take place. The contrast of the child’s perspective against the adult’s within a memory reveals the desire to act on childish impulse and contradicts the adult’s sense of logic and control. I push the absurdity of the childlike impulse until it’s something completely different from the reality. Through this, I expose how far memory is from the original reality in works like Because I Can. I revisit a memory of my father scolding me to not create a mess with my toys. I perform the act now by throwing the glitter, brushing it into my hair and rubbing it all over my body. In combination with the video editing, I control what the viewer sees. I invite them to partake in the discussion between past, present, and future. This creates the dialogue within the viewer about real and imagined.
I explore what we trust most; our own memory and its inaccuracy. The discomfort of adulthood is formed through the act of growing up and metaphorically packing away your childhood toys. Closing the trunk on the unedited mindset of childhood does not mean it cannot be reopened now.
CV
Devann Donovan
@devanndonovan
devannbdonovan@gmail.com www.devanndonovan.com
Education
2022 Master of Fine Arts, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
2018 Bachelors of Art in Painting, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
2016 Accademia del Arte, Arezzo, Italy, Summer Program
Teaching and Work Experience
2022 Adjunct Instructor, 3D Design Foundations, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Exhibits Preparator, Museum of York County, Rock Hill, SC
Painting & Drawing Instructor, ST-Arts Summer Program, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Instructor on Record, 2D Media Studies Drawing, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Studio Technician Assistant, Graduate Assistantship, Fine Arts Dept., Winthrop University, Rock Hill SC
Health, Safety & Security Student Representative, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Graduate Council Student Representative, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
2021 Teaching Assistant, Sculpture 1, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
MFA Overseer & Fine Arts Assistant Curator, MFA Works in Progress Exhibition, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Special Projects Graduate Assistantship, Fine Arts Dept., Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Teaching Workshop, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
2020 Private Academic Tutor due to COVID-19, Elementary - College level, Myrtle Beach, SC
2019-2020 Children’s Art Educator, Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC
2019-2020 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
Exhibitions
2022 33rd Annual Juried Competition, Arts Council of York County, Rock Hill, SC
Replays, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Anonymous, Charlotte Art League, Charlotte, NC
Love – 2022, Exhibizone, Virtual Exhibition, Ontario, Canada
2021 Once Upon A Time – Evocations of Childhood, Queen City 15 Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
MFA Works in Progress Exhibition, Restored and Reflected, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Just Checking In, Winthrop Union of Student Artists, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Rise, Play + Inspire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Unapologetically Human, ASUS Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
Intergalactic Open 2, Shockboxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA
2020 Visiting Artist of the Month, Seacoast Artists Gallery, Myrtle Beach, SC
Quarantine Creatives CCU Alumni Artists, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
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-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-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
2021 People’s Choice, 3-Minute Graduate Showcase, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
2018 Cum Laude, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
2016 Phi Sigma Pi Honor Fraternity, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
2017 Dean's List, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC FA 2017 President's List, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
Public Talks
2021 Replays, MFA Thesis Exhibtion Artist Talk, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Guest Artist Talk, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
MFA Artist Talk, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
3 Minute Graduate Showcase, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
​ 1-Minute MFA Artist Talk, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Bibliography (Reviews and Features)
Winthrop Anthology, Literary Magazine, Spring Edition, 2020
http://www.winthropanthology.com/
Pressley, Mari, "Devann Gardner Profile Story". The Johnsonian, May 7, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojKkji5jQ34
​myhorrynews.com, "Myrtle Beach Art Museum takes education programs online due to COVID-19", March 27, 2020 https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/business/myrtle-beach-art-museum-takes-education-programs-online-due-to-covid-19/article_4726852a-704f-11ea-85cb-2398646647c0.html
​WPDE News Channel 13, review of leading KidsArt Programing and COVID-19 adaptations. https://wpde.com/news/local/stuck-at-home-online-art-classes-help-can-relieve-stress
​"Murrells Inlet artist paints bright future for area youth". Post and Courier Georgetown Times, June 20, 2019, https://www.postandcourier.com/georgetown/community/murrells-inlet-artist-paints-bright-future-for-area-youth/article_fea9be07-7bc8-5270-b9d6-71ebfe13de1a.html
​“Education Corner with Tracey Roode and Devann Gardner”. Villa Voice, December 2019, http://myrtlebeachartmuseum.org/villa-voice-winter-2018-2-2/
​Kisner, Joshua, “Myrtle Beach Art Museum hires CCU alumna as new art educator”. The Horry Independent Business Journal, July 1, 2019, https://www.myhorrynews.com/eedition_the_horry_county_business_journal/page-e/page_9bf1d3b6-2c6a-5044-88bb-e20ad08c05a0.html
"Myrtle Beach Art Museum hires CCU alumna Devann Gardner", Coastal Carolina University News, June 25, 2019, https://www.coastal.edu/ccustories/news/news-article/index.php?id=5070
Morgan, Janet, "Coastal Carolina University students paint mural in North Myrtle Beach", The Sun News, June 20, 2017, http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article157196929.html
Related Experience
2021 Escape & Platinum Plus Mural Commission, 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
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, SC