Artist Bio
Home, belonging and identity are major themes in Cailin Alainn’s work where as a mixed media artist she turns to collage and a variety of found materials in order to express her own unique experiences. She uses trashed and found artifacts in her drawings and paintings to draw parallels on how objects are both cultural and identity markers in our lives. Common materials that she uses include candy wrappers, tea packets, tags, and plastic wrappings that she collages with her portrait and nature themed drawings.
Through this method she is able to reflect upon her connection to these throw-away artifacts as well as validate them by giving them new lives as art works. The disposable nature of these objects and their loss in value after their first use allows her to analyze her relationship to them as well as critique on how societies such as the US emphasizes consumption over sustainability.
To observe these connections she frequently immerses herself into foreign cultures where she can further explore these concepts. By validating how these everyday materials have their own stories and objectives in our lives, she is able to emphasize their strengths in how they can bring a sense of belonging for many individuals who are displaced and/or reside in foreign places.
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Born Florida, 1993, Costa Rican/US American
Works and lives in Central Florida
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Education
2020 - 2022 New York University
2013 - 2017 Florida State University
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Solo Exhibitions
2016 - Phyllis Strauss Fragmentation, Tallahassee, FL
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Group Exhibitions
2023 - Palacio de Servicios Culturales, Tunja, Colombia
Reactiva la Cultura
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2023 - Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida
Platform Pop-Up Group Show
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2021 - Galerie D'Art La Visione, Istanbul, Turkey
Motivation
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2021 - Hush Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Space, Out of Space, Daralan Alan
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2021 - Luna Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul, Turkey
Always In My Head
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2020 - Casselberry Art House, Casselberry, Florida
Recycled Art Virtual Exhibit
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2019 - Istanbul&I Trash & Its Creative Potential Collective Exhibition, Istanbul, Turkey
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2019 - Royal Academy of Art, London, England
Algae Platform Exhibition
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2019 - C-Mine Genk Expo Belgium,
4 Istanbul Design Biennale “A School of Schools,”
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2019 - XXII Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival
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2018 - Arter Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Dunya Okulu: Earth School 4th Istanbul Design Biennial
2017 - the SH/ed/ Tallahassee, Florida
Yellow Above the Fridge A Collaborative Show
2017 - MOFA, Tallahassee, Florida
Modular Immersion
2016 - Working Method Contemporary, Tallahassee, Florida Synthesis Show
Grants & Awards
2020 - NYU Graduate Scholarship
2020 - Rene Matos Art Graduate Scholarship
2020 - Casselberry Art House People's Choice Award
2017 - Andy McLaughlin Memorial Artist Award
2015 - Florida State University Fine Artist Award
2015 - Anderson Ranch Shaw Fund Fellowship
2013 - University of South FL Artist of the Month Award
2012 - Penland Arts and Crafts Full Work Study Scholarship
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Projects
2019 - Istanbul&I NGO "Art and the Environment | A Series of Workshops" Istanbul, Turkey​
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2018 - 4th Istanbul Design Biennial “Landskip Lab” Istanbul, Turkey
2018 - 4th Istanbul Design Biennial “Living Leftover Workshop” Istanbul, Turkey
2018 - 4th Istanbul Design Biennial “School for Poetic Computation” Istanbul, Turkey
2018 - 4th Istanbul Design Biennial “Algae Lab” Istanbul, Turkey
2017 - Koc University ELC Summer Camp “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink” Istanbul, Turkey
2015 - Anderson Ranch “Problem Seeking: Chasing the Quixotic Impossible” Snowmass Village, CO
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2012 - Penland School of Arts and Crafts “The Metaphorical Portrait” Bakersville, NC