Artist CV

 

Artist Bio:

Annelies Kamran is a native of Brookhaven (where she still resides) who began making art several years ago with no formal training. Her primary media are watercolor and graphite on paper, and kinetic sculptures made of wire and glass where she can investigate the play of color and of light and shadow. She counts among her biggest influences the works of Winslow Homer, Aaron Douglas, and Alexander Calder. She likes to explore perseverative interests as well as global political themes in her work, the latter being in keeping with her profession of political scientist — her portrait of a Syrian refugee, “Aylan Kurdi,” won honorable mention at the South Bay Art Association’s 62nd Annual Members’ Memorial Exhibit.

Artist Statement:

I began making watercolors several years ago almost at random — my brother and sister-in-law had given me a full set of materials for a gift a while back, and several years later one of my best friends urged me to join her at a watercolor group she attended regularly.  I didn’t stick with the group, but I did like the process of watercolor, especially the planning involved in creating the layers and the sheer difficulty in “fixing” a mistake.  Kinetic sculptures require a similar kind of planning to find balance as well as movement.  I started making them out of beach glass and wire I had around the house.

I count as major influences the works of Alexander Calder, Winslow Homer, and Aaron Douglas — the first time I saw Douglas’ work, I got goose bumps!  My mobiles are extremely abstract, showing a relationship between objects with just lines, while my paintings are much more realistic, and often based on photos.  In a way, this mirrors the duality of my interests, the quantitative and the qualitative.  I explore themes and issues important to me, such as music, politics, and nature in my paintings, but the mobiles represent the dynamism of network data.

Shows:

• November 2022 – January 2023, Watch Hill School Art, Cafe Castello, Bellport, NY
• October 2021, solo show: “On the Move”, South Country Library, Bellport, NY
• January 2019, SBAA Members Show, South Country Library, Bellport, NY
• May 2019, SBAA 62nd Annual Members’ Memorial Exhibit, Bellport Community Center, Bellport, NY
  • Honorable Mention, “Aylan Kurdi”
• June 2019, solo show: “The Smithereens”, The Cheese Patch, Patchogue, NY
• December-January 2019-20 SBAA Members Show, South Country Library, Bellport, NY
• September-October 2020, South Bay Art Association Members’ Exhibit, Patchogue-Medford Library, Patchogue, NY