An eco-conscious artist, Atlanta-based sculptor Jonathan Imafidor uses scrap or found metal objects to build his large or larger-than-life animal and human works. Artist: Born in Nigeria, Imafidor grew up in a small rural community of Uneme Nekhua, exploring the wonders of his environment and creating art using natural materials. Imafidor received a BA in…
The latticework of bridges and electric towers inspire the 3-D sculptural jewelry designs of North Carolina’s Sarah West. Artist: Born in Seattle, West grew up in the greater Boston area. She earned a two-year bench jewelry certificate from the North Bennet Street School in Boston. In her 20s, after working as a bench jeweler, West…
South Carolina artists Signe and Genna Grushovenko create contemporary oil paintings inspired by vintage-found photographs. Artists: Signe: Born in Michigan and was raised in a creative home in Washington, GA. She earned a BFA from LaGrange College, where she studied drawing and painting. Genna: Born and raised in Ukraine. Growing up in the Soviet Union,…
Georgia artist Courtney N. Ryan envisions her ceramic sculptures as organic natural seed pods that travel from place to place in the natural world. Artist: Born in Fort Bragg, NC, in 1991 into a long line of Army service members. Her family moved soon after she was born to Fort Benning, GA, where her father was…
Lindsy Davis says her art is often categorized as minimal. But to the Nashville sculptor and painter, it is anything but. Artist: The northern New Jersey native grew up in Mahwah near the New York border with a creative mother who studied photography and a hard-working father, who owned a coffee shop. At an early…
Self-taught Kentucky artist Hanna Wright uses bold lines and bright colors to convey emotions in her abstract faces and figures. Artist: The rural Kentucky native was adopted at the age of four and moved from Barbourville to Keavy, where she grew up. She graduated from the University of the Cumberlands in 2015 with degrees in special…
Jasmine Best tells stories in her textile and fiber art. Often, they are her own. Other times, they are family stories. But all give a platform to the varied experiences and identities of Black women in the South. Artist: Born in Jacksonville, NC, and grew up mostly in North Charleston, SC. Best earned a BFA in New…
In her ceramic forms, Atlanta-based figurative sculptor Corran Shrimpton examines the complicated and fraught relationship that she and many women/femmes have with their body in a beauty-obsessed culture. Artist: Shrimpton is from Syracuse, NY, and received her BFA with a minor in philosophy from Alfred University. She is currently an MFA candidate and Welch Fellow…
Baltimore’s Kate Norris rips and collages wallpaper to construct intricate images ranging from animals to anatomical portraits. Artist: Norris was born in Bend, OR, and grew up Redding, CA. She graduated with a BFA from Stanford University and earned an MFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Studio: Kate…
North Carolina’s Valerie Berlage likes to think that her colorful and playful art is like quilting with wood. Artist: Born and raised in the Asheville area, Berlage graduated with a BFA with a concentration in mixed media printmaking from University of North Carolina Asheville. After graduating in 2003, she returned to UNC-Asheville two years later…