Rahshia Sawyer

Statement

Beauty anchors us to our humanity; it acts as the balance between reality and fantasy. Our experience of the world is not static; it is a compilation of layers. Maturing over time, we add layers upon layers, becoming ridged but never finite. An inquiry into the existential questions of our reality, identity, and beliefs lead us to examine layers of significant transition. When we passed from the known to the unknown, this time is described by many as a sensation of floating, being disconnected from their reality.

My work contrasts this Daedalian journey with figurative photographs, the subject disconnected from the ground signifying their transforming reality. Each composition is selected to be neutral, that sliver of space between positive and negative. Allowing the works abstract quality to be informed by the viewer, recreating a singular struggle with our emotions — an experience we all share.

Bio

Rahshia Sawyer is a conceptual photographer based in the Washington DC area. She was the 2012 recipient of the Contemporary Talents award from France’s François Schneider Foundation. Exhibited in the 2012 Inaugural Dublin Biennial, her photographs and installations have been included in numerous group shows in Canada, England, France, Ireland, Spain, and the United States. Her work is in the Corcoran Gallery of Art's permanent collections, Foundation François Schneider, and Radford University Museum.

More recently, she received the 2020 Honorable Mention from the International Photography Awards. She received her MFA from George Mason University in Virginia and her BFA at the Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington DC. Her current projects examine the balanced (or imbalanced) relationship between beauty and chaos.

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Curriculum Vitae

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Invisible Listeners: Signature Gallery Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
2017   Within the im/balance, The Center for the Arts of Greater Manassas & Prince William County, VA
2017   Some Things I Can’t Explain, ArtSpace Herndon, Herndon, VA
2016   Some Things I Can’t Explain, Craddock-Terry Gallery, Lynchburg, VA
2014   Then you weren’t, Workhouse Art Center, Lorton VA
2014   Some Things I Can’t Explain, MFA Thesis Show, George Mason University (catalog)
2013 Subversion, Greenbelt Community Art Center, Greenbelt MD

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 EMERGE: Center Gallery, Wichita, KA
2018 ASPIRE, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (catalog)

2016 Berlin Foto Biennale 2016: Palazzo Italia, Berlin

2014   Contemporary Talent 2012, François Schneider Foundation, Wattwiller France
2014   Dealing with Trauma through Art Making, Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA
2014   Positive ID: Bodies & Subjectivities in Photography: NOVA-Woodbridge, Woodbridge, VA
2014   Artifex: GMU Graduate Student Exhibit: Capital One Corp. Art Program, Richmond, VA
2014   2nd Annual GMU MFA Exhibit: GMU School of Art, VA (catalog)

2013   Hickok Cole: WPA, Washington, DC
2013   Common Pulse Festival: Intersecting Abilities, Durham Art Gallery, Ontario Canada
2013   ACADEMY 2013: Annual MFA / BFA Invitational, CONNORSMITH, Washington DC
2013   EMERGE: Center Gallery, Wichita, KA
2013   Humans Being II: Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (catalog)
2013   Body and Brain: Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (catalog)
2013   1st Annual GMU MFA Exhibit: GMU School of Art, VA (catalog)

2012   Artomatic 2012, Crystal City, VA
2012   The Surrealist Influence on Contemporary Photography, Austin, TX
2012   Hickok Cole: WPA, Washington, DC

2011 Graduate Student Exhibition: GMU School of Art, VA

2004 All Senior Show: Corcoran College of Art and Design, DC
2004 Thesis Exhibition: Corcoran College of Art and Design, DC
2004 Black Milk: Marvelli Gallery, NYC
2004 Artomatic 2004, Washington DC

JURIED EXHIBITIONS

2016 The Mary B. Howard Artist Member Exhibition: Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA

2015   Jax Exhibition: Jacksonville Center for the Arts. Floyd, VA
2015   Fresh! | Young Collectors Show: JanKossen Contemporary, New York, NY
2015   Art Educators’ Exhibition: In Practice: Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
2015   EMULSION 2015: Gallery OonH, Washington DC
2015   Voices: An Artist’s Perspective: National Association of Women Artists, NYC (catalog)

2014   Post-Photography: Beyond the Print: Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory, Alexandria VA
2014   WATERGIRL, Artzibs Gallery, Athens, OH
2014   8th annual MASTERPIECES: Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (catalog)
2014   Of Memory, Bone and Myth V, Rourke Art Museum, Moorhead, MN
2014   PhotoSpiva, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO
2014   Significant Details, Verizon Gallery, Annandale VA
2014   Take Flight, The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA (catalog)
2014   2nd Annual MFA/MA Juried Show, Nelson Gallery, Lexington, VA

2013   CHOICE, Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art, San Francisco, CA
2013   Westmaryginiasylvanington: Regional Juried Exhibition, Frederick, MD
2013   7th annual MASTERPIECES: Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (catalog)
2013   PHOTO/VIDEO 13: Juried Mid-Atlantic Exhibition: Artisphere, Arlington, VA
2013   San Francisco Int’l Photo Exhibition: Gallery Photographica, San Francisco, CA (catalog)
2013   Open Water!: The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA (catalog)
2013   Mysterious Visions: Dreams, Fantasies & Mirages: PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT
2013   Fine Art Photography Competition 2013: ArtSpace Herndon, Herndon, VA
2013   8th Photographic Image Biennial Exhibition: Wellington B. Gray Gallery, Greenville, NC (catalog)

2012   The National Juried Photography Exhibit: The Delaplaine, Frederick, MD
2012   International Juried Photography Exhibition 2012: 12 12 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2012   Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series: International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC
2012   Still Life: The Art of Arrangement: The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA (catalog)
2012   Love, Hate & Everything In Between: StoneCrop Gallery, Ogunquit, ME
2012   The Art of Photography Show 2012, San Diego, CA, (catalog)
2012   5th annual Cork Street Open Exhibition, London, England (catalog)
2012   6th annual MASTERPIECES: Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (catalog)
2012   Inaugural Dublin Biennial, Dublin, Ireland (catalog)
2012   Art Comes Alive, Cincinnati, OH (catalog)
2012   1st Annual Radford University Photography Exhibition, Radford, VA
2012   Imagination: A Smith Gallery, Austin, TX

2011 Distilled, Abstract Art: Lana Santorelli Gallery, NJ

COLLECTIONS

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
François Schneider Foundation
Radford University Museum, Radford VA

AWARDS & HONORS

2020 Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA)

2017 Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA)

2016 Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA)
2016 Honorable Mention, Prix de la Photographie (Px3)

2015   Finalist, 8th edition of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award
2015   Honorable Mention, Jax Exhibition
2015   Honorable Mention, Fine Art Photography Awards (FAPA)
2015   Semi-Finalist, The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards
2015   2nd Place, EMULSION 2015

2014   Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA)
2014   Honorable Mention, Prix de la Photographie (Px3)
2014   Best in Show, WATERGIRL, Artzibs Gallery
2014   Academic and Artistic Excellence, George Mason University

2013   Grand Prix Juror Award of Merit, International Fine Art Photography Competition
2013   Contemporary Talent 2012, Photography Category, François Schneider Foundation
2013   Gold Medal Award San Francisco International Photography Exhibition
2013   2nd Place, Fine Art Photography Competition 2013
2013   Juror’s Choice Award, Open Water!
2013   Leadership Award, ODIME 2013 Vision Awards
2013   EMERGE Fellowship Award, 2013 Midwest Photo Emerge

2012 First Place, 1st Annual Radford Photography Exhibition
2012 Purchase Award, Art Comes Alive

PUBLICATIONS

2014 International Photography Annual 2, Exhibition in Print, Manifest Gallery
2013 So to Speak, A Feminist Journal of Language and Art, Spring

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2014 – 2021 Adjunct Professor: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

2018 Juror: 2018 Fine Art Photography Exhibition, ArtSpace, Herndon, VA
2017           Professional Development Workshop, ArtSpace, Herndon, VA
2016 – 2019 Visual Arts Committee Member, ArtSpace, Herndon, VA
2016 Juror: 2016 Fine Art Photography Exhibition, ArtSpace, Herndon, VA
2015 – 2016   Auction Coordinator: WPA
2015           Artist Talk: Wesleyan Art Department, Buckhannon WV
2015           Juror: 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Fairfax, VA
2012 – 2014   Graduate Lecture: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

SCHOLASTIC LEADERSHIP

2014 Organizer, 2nd Annual GMU MFA Exhibition
2013   Organizer, Open Studios SOA MFA: Graduate Artifex
2013   Organizer, 1st Annual GMU MFA Exhibition
2012   Organizer, 1st For/By Student Exhibition
2013 – 2014    President, SOA MFA: Graduate Artifex
2012 – 2013    Founder & President, SOA MFA: Graduate Artifex

EDUCATION

2014 MFA Art and Visual Technology School of Art George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2004 BFA Photography Corcoran College of Art + Design Washington DC
1996 AA Humanities, Foreign Languages College of the Redwoods Eureka, CA