Department of Multidisciplinary Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University
Gracelee Lawrence, a sculptor, will be Visiting Artist in the Department of Multidisciplinary Art at Chiang Mai University. Founded in 1982, Faculty of Fine Arts offers academic studies and professional training at graduate and undergraduate levels with emphasis on contemporary art including the integration of the new technologies alongside traditional modes of art theory and practice, a special focus for Gracelee. During her Luce year, Gracelee will have opportunity to work with acclaimed Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, whose work “challenges viewers’ moral sense and tolerance through complex and provocative imagery” (Guggenheim Museum Collection Online).
Gracelee graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2016 with a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture + Extended Media. Her work examines the systems and structures of control around bodies, in particular the female body, using food as a reference and replacement in sculptures, fountains, videos and drawings. She was a Principled Problem Solving Scholar at Guilford College, graduating with an honors degree in Sculpture and minors in Spanish and Art History. She was a Co-Director of Pig & Pony, a small house gallery which brings artists from outside of Texas to Austin for intimate two-person exhibitions, employing humor and diversity to rethink traditions of domesticity. As a contributing writer to the International Sculpture Center, she focused on Texas-based artists, writers, critics, and curators. She has shown work internationally and held solo exhibitions nationally at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin, TX; grayDUCK Gallery in Austin, TX; BLUEorange Contemporary in Houston, TX; Saint Cloud University in Saint Cloud, MN; and Cape Fear College in Wilmington, NC. She is the recipient of the 2015 UMLAUF Prize, the 2014 David Womack Memorial Fiber Arts Scholarship, 2013 Eyes Got It Prize, and the 2011-12 Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist Grant. Competing and training horses in dressage and eventing since childhood, Gracelee is a proud graduate of the United States Pony Club. She is an artist, writer, cook, traveler, macramé enthusiast, and lifelong horsewoman.