Artist Statement-2013
My work represents fragments of dreams, fantasies, and moments in time. The protagonists are part human, part vegetable. By insinuating these fanciful hybrids into precarious and toxic situations, I can explore themes of vulnerability, desire, greed, and industry gone awry.
The genesis of this body of work occurred 28 years ago when my first child was born. As a young mother I tried to make sense of the disposable world of diapers. I imagined mountains of diapers festering in landfills for millions of years. Then I imagined a new world and the post-human creatures that might inherit it.
A Libra, I continually strive to bring balance into my art. I am the person who always sees two sides to every story, balancing family and work, society and solitude, whimsy and cold reality. This work balances the beauty I see in nature with the ugliness that I have contributed to it as an active member of a disposable culture. My intention is to create a new way of seeing what we have, and how easily we can turn it into shit.
BIO
I received my MFA at SUNY Albany in 2000 graduating with a Distinguished MFA Award. I had my first solo show at Gallery Boreas in October 2003 and have had a second solo show in the spring of 2005. I have been an artist in residence at Millay Colony in Austerlitz, New York and Boreas Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland. I received two Special Opportunity Stipends from The New York Foundation of the Arts and was a recipient of a NYFA prize in the category of Painting in 2004. My work has been shown both internationally and nationally.
RESUME
Education
MFA, University at Albany, State University of New York, Painting
BS, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, Painting and Drawing
One Person Show
2011 Andrea Hersh: Flora & Fauna, The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY
2005 Paintings and Drawings, Gallery Boreas, Williamsburg, NY
2003 New Paintings, Gallery Boreas, Williamsburg, NY
Selected Group Shows
2013 Some Assembly Required, The Albany Airport Gallery, Albany NY
2011 Adaptation: Andrea Hersh, Jennifer Miller, Deborah Zlotsky, Laphan Gallery, Glens Falls, NY
2010 In the Altogether: Andrea Hersh and Emil Alzamora, Albany Center Gallery, Albany NY
2009 New Work: Andrea Hersh and Matt Peebles, UAG, Albany NY
2008 Aggregate, The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY
2008 Sel-Prortaits, The Way Out Gallery, Renselaerville, NY
2007 Pierogi Flat-files, New York, NY
2007 Organically Speaking, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY, Tower Fine Arts Gallery
2006 Towards a Science of Consciousness Conference, Tucson, AZ
2006 Portraits on the Edge, Gallery Boreas, Pittsfield, MA
2006 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY
2006 Character Study, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
2006 Take Notice, Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY
2005 Flash Art Show, Milan, Italy
2004 Selected Works from the Pierogi Flatfiles, University Art Museum, Albany, NY
2004 Shock and Awe, Firflefanz Gallery, Albany, NY
2004 Brooklyn in Pittsfield, Gallery Boreas, Pittsfield MA
2004 Expanded Realities, Art Center of Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, NY
2004 Herstory, Manhattan Arts International Exhibition, New York, NY
2003 Group Invitational Exhibition Gallery Boreas, Lenox, MA
2003 Art at Steeple Top, Millay Colony of the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
2003 Women in the New Millennium-the Artist’s Perspective, The Walsh Library Gallery,
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
2002 Canajoharie Library and Gallery Invitational Exhibition, Canajoharie, NY
2002 Artists of Mohawk Region Exhibition, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY
2001 Artists of the Mohawk Region Exhibition, The Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY
2002 Herstory, Manhattan Arts International Exhibition, New York, NY
2001-2007 Faculty Exhibition, College of Saint Rose Gallery, Albany, NY
2001 Fact or Fiction, Invitational group show, Adams Street Gallery, Albany, NY
2000 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University Art Museum, Albany, NY
1999 1999 Contemporary Drawing Exhibition, The Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
Grants
2004 New York Foundation for the Arts in the category of Painting
2004 Special Opportunity Stipend from New York Foundation for the Arts and The Art Center of the Capital Region
2003 Special Opportunity Stipend from New York Foundation for the Arts and The Arts Center of the Capital Region
Awards
2002 Jurors Award, Artist of the Mohawk Hudson Region Juried Exhibition
Albany Institute of History and Art
2001 Jurors Award, Artist of the Mohawk Hudson Region Juried Exhibition
University at Albany Museum, State University of New York, Albany, NY
1998-2000 Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY
Residencies
2004 Boreas Residency, Reykjavik, Iceland
2005 and 2003 The Millay Colony of the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
Reviews
The Troy Record, Arts Center hosts Flora & Fauna, Teohen Douglas January 2011
Metroland, “Art and Design Faculty Show”, Nadine Wasserman, October 2007
The New York Art World, June 2005, Andrea Hersh at Gallery Boreas, by Jessica D. K. Park
Metroland, “The Surreal Life”, Pam Barett-Fender, February 19, 2004
Berkshire Eagle, “Brooklyn Art Comes to Pittsfield”, July 10, 2004