My artistic practice continuously grapples to understand both artistic and scientific spheres of study as one: we cannot separate microbial and ecological processes from social, cultural and creative making. I experiment with ways the tangible book and handmade paper can embody personal experiences, or capture a particular definition of the “body.” Is one’s body defined by the amount of microplastic ingested? The amount of plastic waste created in a month? The number of bathrooms I was sick in? The text messages exchanged, or screenshots saved? If these items or images are held on pages by the reader, bound with a spine, what do they learn about (my)self? I argue that we must understand the tangible and inseparable relationship between ourselves and our environment and use such knowledge to address environmental and social issues such as climate change, air and water pollution, and public health. For this reason, my handmade paper is made of as much recycled material as possible—most often waste that I’ve collected over time—and includes hair, mica, soil and plastic. In this way, the paper substrate parallels the unique materials our existence leaves behind at any given moment. The final works stand in for the physical body, presented as a collection of detritus created by the ecology of my own body and the particular environments I navigate.
EDUCATION
2020 M.F.A in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
2017 B.S. in Microbiology; B.F.A in Art: Emphasis in Printmaking & Book Arts
Honors Program Graduate, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Current Technical Manual Writer, Fresenius Kabi
Lake Zurich, IL
2021 Technical Writer, Medline Industries
Waukegan, IL
2020 Clinical Lab Accessioner, Department of Infectious Disease
Tempus, Chicago, IL
2019 Graduate Instructor of Record in Art & Art History
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
Courses: Drawing I, Foundation Skill: Silkscreen
2018 Production Assistant for The Commons Artist Project: Joan Giroux
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
2017-20 Graduate Research Assistant in Art & Art History
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
Courses: Introduction to Visual Culture, Art of Islam, Art History II,
History of Architecture I, Art & Ritual
2015-17 Graphic Editor & Designer, Little Red Book Magazine
Fashion & Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
2014-17 Research Assistant, Moran Research Group
Marine Sciences Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2020 Albert P. Weisman Award Show, Arcade Gallery, Chicago, IL
MFA Thesis: Fragile Morphologies of Pulp Bodies, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL
Services to Artists Committee: Graduate Student Screenings,CAA Conference, Chicago, IL
Inaugural Exhibition, Columbia College Chicago Student Center, Chicago, IL
2019 Cimarron National Works On Paper, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Windows, Conaway Center of Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
2018 75th Annual Salon Show, South Shore Arts, Munster, IN
Dump City, Faux Pas Art Gallery, Rochelle, IL
2017 When I Sit I Feel Ghostly, Printmaking Thesis, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, GA
2016 In, On, Of Paper, The Paper Circle, Nelsonville, OH
2015 Sifting, Lamar Dodd School of Art Galleries, Athens, GA
Shit Show, Lamar Dodd School of Art Galleries, Athens, GA
Art Squared, The Art Festival at Overton Square, Memphis, TN
2014 Tainted Love, The Coffee Shop of Athens, GA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2020 Albert P. Weisman Award, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL 2019 Cimarron National Purchase Prize, Oklahoma State University Library, Stillwater, OK; Cimarron National Juror Award, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 2018 Helen V. Surovek Memorial Award, South Shore Arts, Munster, IN; Technical Assistant Scholarship, Haystack School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME 2017-20 Graduate Assistantship, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL 2013-17 Baldwin Scholarship, University of Georgia, Athens, GA; Zell Miller Scholarship, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
GUEST LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
2019 Guest Speaker, Graduate Pedagogy, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL; Teaching Artist, Concertina Binding Workshop, Albany Park Public LIbrary, Chicago, IL; Co-Teaching Artist with Melissa Potter, Papermaking Lecture and Workshop, Chicago, IL 2018 Technical Assistant, Botanical Alchemy, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, ME
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“2020 Art and Art History MFA Thesis Exhibition,” Department of Exhibitions, Performances and Student Spaces, Columbia College Chicago. May 5 2020. link
Dru Norton, “Cimarron National Works on Paper exhibit returns to OSU,” O’Colly Media Group,
October 2 2019. link
“75th Annual Salon Show.” Center for Visual and Performing Arts, Munster, IN: South Shore Arts, September 9 2018. Exhibition catalogue, print.
“In, ON, of PAPER.” Paper Circle, 2017. Exhibition catalogue, pdf.
Olivia Deloian, “Artist [Alberto Aguilar] takes ‘Monumental’ step in creating public art,” Columbia Chronicle, October 2017. link
Marine Landa, Andrew Burns, Selena (Roth) Ingram, Mary Ann Moran, “Bacterial transcriptome remodeling during sequential co-culture with a marine dinoflagellate and diatom.” The ISME Journal, 2017. link
For more information or general inquiries, please contact:
selena.jayne.ingram@gmail.com
for updates on my ongoing projects, commissions and collaborations, follow me on Instagram!
