Since I was a young child, I’ve been drawn to images of the intimate. Moving around a lot meant I developed an awareness of my own subjectivity from an early age, and learned to see myself in relation to what surrounded me. My interest in the most familiar space- that of the body- took me deep into artistic traditions of realism. In recent years, I’ve become interested in the objects and spaces these figures inhabit, and what I can learn from looking at my own looking. 

In moments of stillness, light, shape and textures become a world unto themselves. In my work, these everyday domestic scenes often contain an underlying unease. These paintings inhabit a world that is stripped of noise and activity, almost claustrophobic. I’m interested in the blurred line between quietness that suggests rest and stillness that evokes desperation. Is my hiding place a sanctuary or a prison? Can the way I see myself really be trusted?

–> mari.elaine.lamp@gmail.com

Education

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, MFA 2017

The School of Representational Art, Chicago 2011-2012

Atelier course of study in drawing/painting

Houghton College, Houghton, NY, BA in Art and Writing, 2007

Exhibition History

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

2023 Concerning the Spiritual in Landscape, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia

2023 Holding Shape, Fjord Collective Fundraiser, AtelierFAS, Philadelhpia

2020 Trade Ya, Alumni Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

2020 Knew Normal, AUTOMAT Gallery, Philadelphia

2020 Swipe Show, Spillway Collective, Philadelphia

2019 Contemporary Juried Exhibition, 215/610 Contemporary, Delaware County Community College

Curated by Jodi Throckmorton

2018 The Poetics of Re-Presentation, The Woodmere Museum Annual 78th Juried Exhibition,

Philadelphia, Curated by Eileen Neff

2017 Playbook, On Stellar Rays, New York, NY, Curated by Didier William and Josephine Halvorson

2017 Apparitions, Fjord Collective, Philadelphia

2017 MFA Thesis, Annual Student Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA

2017 Wet Paint, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA, Curated by Harry Cooper, National Gallery of Art

2016 Happiness, Liberty, Life, Gallery 128, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

2016 RBTL College Art Association’s MFA Annual Regional Exhibition, American University,

Washington DC

2016 Bodies, Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia

2015 It’s The Thought That Counts, Gallery 128, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

2014 Group Format, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago

2014 A City to Wear, Research House for Asian Art, Chicago

2013 Memory, Lacuna Artists Lofts, Chicago

2013 Benefit Auction, Autumn Space Gallery, Chicago

2013 The Noise Project, Labspace Studio, Toronto

Residencies

Summer 2016, Scholarship Awardee, Chautauqua School of Art, Chautauqua NY

Press

Artforum Artguide of Playbook at On Stellar Rays, NYC, 2017

Broad Street Review, Happiness, Liberty, Life, PAFA, 2016

https://www.broadstreetreview.com/articles/happiness-liberty-life-american-art-and-politics-at-pafa

Curatorial Projects

2023 Thy Kingdom Comes Apart, solo exhibition by Jermaine Ollivierre, AUTOMAT Gallery, April 2023

Press: “Jermaine Ollivierre’s Enlightened Sculptures in “Thy Kingdom Comes Apart” at AUTOMAT

Gallery” by Logan Cryer, Artblog, May 18, 2023

2022 Fragile Fold Hollow Hold, exhibition by Rita Bernstein and Oliver Solmitz, Alumni Gallery,

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

2021 Vivid Edge, exhibition by Max Gideon Basch and Caleb Kortokrax, AUTOMAT Gallery

2019 Precision Cut, exhibition by Meg Borah and Amy Faris, AUTOMAT Gallery

2018 Mending, solo exhibition by Rachel Deane, AUTOMAT Gallery

Press: “Rachel Deane at AUTOMAT” by Deborah Kreiger, Artillery Magazine, Nov 2018

2018 First Date, Juried Show at AUTOMAT Gallery, Philadelphia

Teaching

2023 Workshop Instructor, Drawing from the Collection, Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College

2022- 2023 Community Drawing Installation, Student event, Ursinus College Dept of Art

2017- 2021 Drawing Instructor, Holy Family University, Philadelphia PA

Courses: Drawing 1, Drawing from the Figure

2016 High School Afterschool Art Program, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA

Affiliations

Member, AUTOMAT Collective, Philadelphia, PA, 2018 – present

Residencies

Scholarship Awardee, Chautauqua School of Art, Chautauqua NY, 2016

Awards

Eagles and Angels Award, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Collections

John and Susan Horseman Collection, St. Louis, MO

Publications

“Back to the future in politics and art” by Stacy Friedman. Broad Street Review. Published July 25, 2016.

mari.elaine.lamp@gmail.com