Ann Piper holds a B.F.A from the Maryland Institute, College of Art and an M.F.A from New Mexico State University. Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited widely across the United States for the past twenty five years. Professionally, Piper’s work focuses on the figure as a vehicle for creating a series of personal vignettes. She examines human relationships through her devised images by assigning roles, removing context, arranging objects, and offering it up for reinterpretation.  

Artist Statement

In my work, I use portraiture as a vehicle for creating a series of personal vignettes. Always formal, and often theatrical, each portrait serves as an assertion of a state of being. They are artificial moments, certainly, but are invented in support of very real sentiments. I am constantly examining human relationships through these devised images; assigning roles, removing context, arranging objects, and offering it all up for reinterpretation. By employing metaphor and my own sense of visual symbolism, I develop a “poetic description” of the kind of presence I wish to convey. Rather than set out to reveal a complete narrative, which demands a literal translation, I suggest a mood--something that can be understood on different levels by different people. Thus my concept is distilled and the work speaks not only to my own, but to the human experience.

Official Conference Booklet

Ann's Powerpoint (coming soon)