Ivana Damien George
is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, sound, video, and mixed media since 1998. The starting point in her art practice is a belief that great art not only is visually compelling but that it should also have a subject matter, a meaning, and an inspirational purpose beyond the purely aesthetic. She believes in the power of art to inspire, inform and engage viewers in the critical issues of our time. She is passionate about exploring the relationship between humanity and the natural world and motivated by a love of exploration and learning. She takes on various roles such as gardener, mountain climber, investigator, and environmental activist in order to explore the world. In her art she shares her discoveries, insights and observations. As an artist who uses lens-based imaging, her aesthetic is one of carefully constructing an image rather than taking a picture. She manipulates the media to construct a metaphor, idea or expression in her work.
She has exhibited her work in over 50 national juried and invitational exhibitions including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Flash Forward Photography Festival, The Griffin Museum, Panopticon Gallery, Newspace Center for Photography, CAC in Las Vegas, Soho Photo Gallery, Dallas Video Festival, Junction Arts Festival and the Danforth Museum. She has completed artist in residency fellowships at the Vermont Studio Residency Center and Oolite Arts. Since 2002, she has been the recipient of numerous grants for the creation of artworks. Her work has been written about in the Boston Globe, Orion Magazine, the Las Vegas Sun, Atlanta's Creative Loafing as well as several blogs. She holds a M.F.A. degree from the joint program of The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University. She is a Professor of Art at a Massachusetts state university where she teaches all levels of black and white analog photography, historical processes and digital photography. She also teaches additional subjects including video, digital arts and sustainability.
Ivana is an avid outdoors-woman and Sierra Club member. She loves to teach photography outdoors on field trips, go to national parks, and participate in many outdoor adventure sports such as cross country skiing, biking, kayaking, hiking and rock climbing. She enjoys growing vegetables, cooking, and eating gourmet food with friends and family.
