Biography

TERESA LUNDGREN (b. 1987, Chicago, Illinois) lives and works in Fishkill, New York. Her art focuses on an interest in philosophy, education, and the function of language in creating knowledge. She works in a wide range of media from hyperrealistic still-life paintings and prints to public art and immersive audio installation. The focus of her art historical research has been on contemporary global art, especially art from the Middle East. Teresa earned her BA in 2009 in Art at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and her MFA in Fine Art and MS in History of Art and Design at Pratt Institute in 2017. She has taught International Baccalaureate (IB) Visual Arts and Theory of Knowledge in Dubai, UAE and Brooklyn, New York.

Artist statement

I am drawn to the inherent idealism of public education, especially the open proliferation of information and ideas and the critical discussions that it inspires. Through the heavy use of language, these ideals found their place in my art. At the center of my work are questions of an epistemological nature, asking the audience how they know what they know. I do not purport to have any answers; asking questions to encourage critical thinking is not only something I want others to do, but something I need to continually do as well. With stickers project, Public Questions, the audience encounters questions about where knowledge and belief comes from, as well as questions about bias, authority, what it means to be an expert, or about the difficulties of finding the truth. Designed to be applicable in any space and for any conversation, it removes philosophical discussion from the confines of the classroom and inserts it into a public space. While not all of my work is so direct in its intention, all of it does stem from quiet observation and an earnest desire to understand the world around me. In my Video Diaries series, the text is not audible, but visual, running across the screen like a ticker tape of my personal philosophical musings about life as I consume, observe, and create it.

My paintings and prints are more direct observations. The instructions found in the text affects our beliefs and behaviors, instructing us and pointing us toward what is “correct.” Through experiencing and studying the words in my neighborhood, I was able to become more aware of language as we experience it every day. I turned photos of text that I found into photorealistic prints and paintings. Here I do not question what it is that I see, rather I attempt to recreate it. I am not interpreting the words, I am mimicking their forms. Of course, pure objectivity - whether visual or intellectual - is impossible. Most of the time I consciously remove the background, stripping away the situational context of the signs so the viewer does not know where it came from. Sometimes this creates confusion (Take Your Receipt), other times it seems humorous (In Case of Fire…). The isolation of the sign from its original place in time and space become part of the meditation on why these texts exist in the first place.

Resume

Education

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York

M.F.A. Fine Art; M.S. History of Art and Design; 2017

Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado

B.A. Fine Art, Minor in Music; 2009

Teacher Certification, K-12 Visual Arts, 2010

Exhibitions

Open Windows, curated by Lisa A. Banner; Space776; Brooklyn, New York; 2016

Inertia, curated by Lisa A. Banner; SVA Flatiron Project Space; New York, New York; 2016

Lessons in Observation, MFA thesis show; Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn, New York; 2016

Babylone – U.S.A., curated by Daniel S. Palmer; The Boiler, Pierogi; Brooklyn, New York; 2016

Give Me Some Space, curated show; Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn, New York; 2015

All at Once, group show; Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn, New York; 2015

Salonumenta, group show; DeKalb Gallery, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn, New York; 2014

Roses by Other Names, curated by Jaishri Abichandani; Lower East Side Printshop; New York, NY; 2013

Senior Art Majors Exhibition, juried show; Main Gallery, Art Department, Fort Lewis College; Durango, Colorado; 2009

Big Kids and Paint, group show; Exit Gallery, Art Department, Fort Lewis College; Durango, Colorado; 2009

Student Invitational; Main Gallery, Art Department, Fort Lewis College; Durango, Colorado; 2008

Two and a Half Feet, group show; Exit Gallery, Art Department, Fort Lewis College; Durango, Colorado; 2007

Publications

“Mining Through History: The Contemporary Practices of Vahap Avşar and Shadi Harouni.” 2016 Queens Int’l, show catalog; Queens Museum, Queens, New York; 2016

“Tradition and Adaptation: Use of calligraphy and script in contemporary Middle Eastern graphic design.” belvedere, 2; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York; 2016

Teaching Experience

IB Visual Arts and Theory of Knowledge Teacher; Brooklyn Prospect Charter School; Brooklyn, New York; 2017-2020

Secondary IB Visual Arts and Theory of Knowledge Teacher; Universal American School; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 2011-2014

MYP Art Teacher; Lucile Erwin Middle School; Loveland, Colorado; 2010-2011

Related Experience

MetPLC Educator; Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York, New York; 2019-2020

Editorial Intern; Artforum International Magazine; New York, New York; 2016

Graduate Assistant, Printmaking Department, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn, New York; 2015-2016

Educational Initiatives Intern, ART21, Inc.; New York, New York; 2015

Resident, Lower East Side Printshop; New York, New York; 2013

Director, Art Club; Lucile Erwin Middle School; Loveland, Colorado; 2010-2011

Gallery Assistant; Chapungu Gallery and Sculpture Park; Loveland, Colorado; 2007-2008

Gallery Assistant; Art Department, Fort Lewis College; Durango, Colorado; 2007-2008