Artist Statement:
I’m an Asian American oil painter who makes photorealistic oil paintings depicting fabricated scenarios of people in precarious situations. These compositions are based off of reference photos I have taken from fabricated scenarios meant to symbolize mutually shared issues that we all face as humans. These constructed compositions capture intimate moments of individuals in utter despair from predicaments arising from the structural failures of society. For example, in my painting “9 to 5”, I showcase the struggles of an individual who grapples with choosing either attending college or working minimum wage labor with both being undesirable options. In this scenario, the individual chooses to work at a fast food location, but is unhappy regardless. This painting is meant to display the dilemma that young adults face and how societal structures have confined us into these two unpleasant options. This concept expresses my own perception in how our societal structures are destroying our individualism. My work is also meant to symbolize how we as humans must embody the qualities of resilience and perseverance to prosper within the boundaries of these inequitable systems
Artist Resume
Kellan Kai Yuien Marriott
450 Hawkridge Lane, MD 21784
Education
2024 BFA, Art + Design, Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking, Towson University
Areas of Specialization: Painting, Drawing Printmaking
Selected Exhibitions
2024 "Beyond the Photograph", RI Center - For Photographic Arts, Juror: David DeMelim
2024 "Social Contracts", Maryland Art Place, MD, Juror: Doreen Bolger
2024 "Senior Exhibition", Holtzman MFA Gallery, MD
2024 "Juried Undergraduate Exhibition", Holtzman MFA Gallery, MD, Juror: Adriana Benavides
2024 "Storage Space Gallery", Center for the Arts CA 4033, MD
2023 "AXA Art Prize 2023", New York Academy of Art, NY
2023 "Artful Harvest Exhibition", Roland Park Presbyterian Church, MD
2023 "SPARK 6: Refractions Exhibition - Wavefront", The Peale, MD
2023 "Storage Space Gallery", Center for the Arts CA 4033, MD
2023 "Juried Undergraduate Exhibition", Holtzman MFA Gallery, MD
2022 "Juried Undergraduate Exhibition", Holtzman MFA Gallery, MD
2022 "Reconciliation Exhibition", Triple Crown, MD
Awards and Scholarships
2024 Ro and Marius P. Johnson Scholarship, Towson University
2024 Creative Inquiry Meritorious Project Award, Towson University Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry
2023 Ro and Marius P. Johnson Scholarship, Towson University
2023 Franklin and Alice Cooley Scholarship, Towson University
2022 Phyllis Carey Erlewine Painting Prize, Towson University
2020 Towson University Department of Art + Design, Art History, Outstanding Maryland High Student Scholarship
Publications
“AXA Art Prize US 2023 Exhibition”, New York Academy of Art, February 20, 2023. https://nyaa.edu/axa-art-prize-us-2023-exhibition/