ATRIUM ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: AMBER PIERCE¬

Engage with working artists creating on-site inspired by Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick and LaToya M. Hobbs: Flourish. Artists will have mobile studios set up in the Virginia MOCA Atrium. The residency aims to support and amplify the work of regional artists while creating another entry point for Museum visitors to engage with contemporary art and ideas in connection with the main gallery exhibitions.

This month's Artist in Residence is Amber Pierce.

Schedule:

Saturdays, March 25, April 1, April 8, April 15, & April 22

Artist Statement

I am interested in the habitual origins of art-making as its own language- one that feels both innate and mystical. The objective of my work continues to become a vehicle or vessel for sharing and story-telling. As a way to be mindful of what I am offering, I intentionally select, combine, and interpret materials to empower and fortify the meaning and function of my work. I challenge myself to create a visual language that acknowledges the sensitivity of ephemeral thoughts and feelings but actualizes them in form through sculpting and materializing.

In an attempt to offer a reprieve or reframing of the status quo, my art-making has become a personal communication tool to respond to a world that too often rejects hypersensitivity and rewards the act of disassociation. I seek to bring a sense of connection and empowerment through the creation of artwork; to create an opportunity to hold space for myself and others. Outcomes of the work produce journal-like self-explorations that challenge my own values of what is conceptually worthy of being shared, cherished, or communicated. I celebrate the opportunities for understanding, communion, vulnerability, and agency that art allows each of us, and pursue these experiences within my work.

Bio

Amber Robinson Pierce (b. 1996) is a multi-media American artist and Virginia Beach, Virginia native. In high school, Pierce attended the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia. After briefly studying at Virginia Commonwealth University, Amber spent time living and working in Richmond and Virginia Beach-where she eventually began interning at Utopia Feni Creative Studios and Gallery. She is currently an Old Dominion University student pursuing her BA in Art Education and BFA in 3-D Material Studies. Pierce is a recipient of a 2022 Undergraduate VMFA Fellowship Award. She is also a University Fellow of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, in Gatlinburg Tennessee. Her habitual artmaking began well before she how to write, and it is this childlike excitement and desire to communicate that fuels her art-making today. Combining multiple mediums, Pierce’s work addresses narrative themes of vulnerability, connection, and identity.

amberpierce.art