Bio and CV | Evie McKenna

Bio

Myopia is a condition where distant objects appear to be blurry while closer things look normal.

I am rearranging the terms in this definition and by terms, I mean the focus or clarity of my

botanical subjects. The confusion vs. recognition of the sharpness within a popular and familiar

subject allow me to make a tableau with my subject that fuses my vision onto one plane.

The disciplines that I am currently using are areas where I am fusing my background, drawing

and animation. In certain ways, the tech changes in photography that initially seemed to make

the process easier, propelled me to look at how the hand of the artist could still be seen. Seeing

through lenses is a fascination and the process of finding a type of correctness or sharpness was

of less interest to me than the path taken to get there. In these works, I often stop halfway where

sharp focus lay next to near abstraction. By using overlays of drawn and painted patterns, I could

meld the two into a game of choice for the viewer. I intentionally leave areas of the work

unaltered and recognizable. The altered image is made with materials that have properties that

are imprecise, messy and clearly not identified with the botanicals as they exist.

Interpreting the lines from the image gives prompts for the work and those marks make for

even more assists until a piece feels complete. The cut flowers of Mary Delany accept the challenge

to reinterpret flowers challenging the scientific presentation style of her time. The collages of

Hannah Hoch, the print work of Robert Rauchenberg, the patterns and explosive use of color by
Beatrice Milhales are all inspirations along with the use of color as primary subject seen in Stanley

Whitney and Agnes Martin's work. Hilma auf Klimt is another absolute favorite artist in a number

of ways.

My animations are short, and by design they are asking viewers to suspend belief in the world as

we know it, by taking a familiar and popular subject of the botanical world, and to ask you to

reconsider what you know and are sure of and what is shifting beneath your feet every day. Color is

huge, pattern also, and that is another reason why the wealth of both of these attributes is abundant

in the natural world. The trance like feel of a friendly subject being reconfigured on the big or

small screen is transportive. The experimental nature of the work challenges an expectation of

narrative and the suspension of an exact focal plane which is part of the experience of myopia, is

an objective of the work.

I live in upstate New York, in an inspiring landscape, part of which is my garden and other parts

are forest land. My teaching experience includes teaching at SVA, Pratt, Brooklyn College and at

various workshops teaching photography. My work as photo editor involved major publications at

The New Yorker, Time Inc and Rodale Press. Currently, my animations and print work can be seen

at www.eviemckenna.com and on Vimeo at EvieMcKenna and at evie.mckenna.studio on Instagram.

Inquires can be made at emckennastudio@gmail.com

2024 Fantastical Films, Callicoon Theater, Callicoon Art Walk

Harvest Lungs, East Village Community garden screening, Laurie Olinder, curator

New Memories Film Festival, Parksville, NY, short film presentation of three animations

Brooklyn International Film Fest, semi-finalist

Rome International Short Awards, semi-finalist

2023 Big Eddy Film Festival, Narrowsburg, NY Film festival, Shorts, Official Selection

Bruges International Film Festival, Belgium, Tarkovski Grant

Harvest Lungs, East Village Community Garden, screening curated by Lori Olinder

Catskill Art Space, Livingston Manor, Fantastical Films, curated by Elizabeth Ennis

This Earth, Montello Artists group show, Concord Art Museum, Concord MA

Off Brand, A.R.T., Group show, Jackson Heights, NY

Lulea Film Festival, official selection, short film, Sweden

2022 Musee Magazine, Weekend Portfolio feature

ALTFF Film Festival finalist in Indie festival for Ultra Shorts category in Vancover

Tune in to Green, Experimental short film series online at the Diaramaroom.com

2021 Southern Utah Museum of Art, Cedar City, UT, "This Earth", Montello Foundation

Astoria Film Festival, debut of three experimental animations, Heart of Gold, NYC

Michael Foley Gallery, NYC group show with Gerald Slota and Ellen Wallenstein

2020 QCA New Works, Artists Talk, Dec. 17th with Elaine Matczak, interviewer

Queens Council on the Arts, SuCasa Program, Rochdale Village, Queens, NY.

Art from the Epicenter, online auction and exhibit

2019 Queens Council on the Arts, SuCasa Program, Newtown Center, Queens, NY

Jackson Heights Art Talks, E77, Artists Talk

2018 Queens Council on the Arts, SuCasa Program, Queensbridge Houses, NY

School of Visual Arts, Photo Dept faculty show

2017 Wave Hill House, Wave Hill Gardens, Bronx, NY solo show

Queens Council on the Arts, SuCasa Program online portfolio of Cambria Heights

2016 Open Source Gallery, group show, Brooklyn NY

Montello Foundation, Montello, Nevada, artist residency

2015 Callicoon Trading, "Silhouettes", Callicoon, NY

Queens Museum Artists Market, Flushing Meadows, NY

SPARCS Program Artist, NYC Council on the Arts, Sunnyside, NY

2014 Wave Hill House, Bronx, NY Winter Artist Residency, exhibition

Arts Commons, traveling public arts exhibitions, Queens, NY

2013 School of Visual Arts, Photo Dept faculty show

2012 Catskill Art Society, "Ghosts of the Catskills," Livingston Manor, NY

Adelphi University Harley UC Gallery, Group Exhibition, Garden City, NY

2011 Mondo Studios, Queens NY, Artists open studio exhibition

2010 Society of Photographic Educators, Group Exhibition, University of the Arts, Phila

2009 Adelphi University, Klapper Center for Fine Arts, Garden City, NY

2008 Flux Factory, Queens, NY group exhibition New York, New York

Outsider Studio, Livingston Manor, NY

2007 AAVI, online exhibition with the school portal, Mexico City, Mexico

Outsider Studio, "Through An Optic Nerve", Livingston Manor, NY

2006 Queens Museum, "Queens International", Studio in A City, Queens, NY

Outsider Studio, Winter Show, Livingston Manor, NY

2005 Dry Good Arts Gallery, Livingston Manor, NY Welcome to My Home

2003 Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York, NY g

Minnesota Center for Photography, "Towards A Low End Theory"

2002 Queens Museum, "Everything All at Once",international exhibition with catalogue Athens Institute of Contemporary Art, GA, "House", group show of photography

2001 Open City, portfolio from “Directions to My House”, online and literary journal

2000 Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York, "Seeds, Squares and Houses", three person show Von Lintel & Nusser Gallery, NY, "Unconscious Documentaries" curated by Paul Ha

The Meat Market Fair, White Columns entrant, Chelsea, New York

1999 Silverstein Gallery, New York, group show

White Columns, NY, "Visitor", curated by Lauren Ross

Brooklyn Brewery, New York, "Mothers Work"

1998 Richard Anderson Fine Arts, project space, New York

Williamsburg Arts & Cultural Center, "Williamsburg Bridges Tibet" Brooklyn, New York

Baird Center, South Orange, New Jersey, "Image after Image", group show

Gallery 292, New York, group show NYU/ICP alum

Richard Anderson Fine Arts, group exhibition curated by Casey Kaplan, New York

Awards

2020 Queens Council on the Arts, New Works Grant, NYC Dept of Art

Queens Council on the Arts, SuCasa in Rochdale Village, Queens, Y

2019 Su Casa grant, Newtown Italian Center, Queens, NY

2018 Su Casa grant, Queensbridge Houses

2017 Montello Foundation Residency, Montello, Nevada

Su Casa grant, Cambria Heights, Alpha Phi Alpha center

2015 Sunnyside Community Houses, Sparks grant

2001 New York Foundation for the Arts, grant for catalogue project, “Directions to My House”

Artist Residencies

2017 Montello Foundation residency, Montello, Nevada

2014 Wave Hill, Winter Residency program, three month project

1998 Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas artist residency,

1994 PS 122, Artists studio recipient

1991 Yaddo, artist residency in Saratoga Springs, New York

1989 National Park Service, Ellis Island, New York, Visiting Artists Program

Education

MA New York University/ International Center of Photography, NY,

BFA University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, photography and printmaking

Teaching

Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY

School of Visual Arts, New York City

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

Adelphi University, Garden City, NY,

AAVI, D.F. Mexico City, Mexico

LaGuardia Community College, Queens, NY

Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Publications/Reviews

including Musee Magazine, weekend portfolio series online, SUMA "This Earth", catalogue of exhibition of Montello Foundation residents environmental works, Everything All At Once, Queens Museum exhibition catalogue

Art Papers, Flash Art, Athens Banner-Herald, Directions to My House, self published book of photograph of the built environment Open City, The New Yorker