ARTIST STATEMENT: As an artist, I claim two distinct – yet interconnected – bodies of work. My figurative representations of nature coexist beside object-based artwork, with the two separate bodies of work intended as complementary rather than competitive. Each informs the other, illuminating the universal experience of life on earth. Environmental themes in my object-based sculpture play out on a subtle level while my nature-based work aims for more literal interpretation of the world around us. Man-made designs are manipulated to reflect organic origins, such as clustered doorknobs resembling a virus or star-shaped safety cones re-appropriated in likeness of spiked seedpods or diatoms. Simultaneously, direct depictions of Flora and Fauna, whether in the context of earth and grass or among human-implemented industrial piping and cigarette butts, allow me to further explore systems impacted by man’s activity.
BIOGRAPHY: Chicago artist Victoria Fuller has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her inflatable sculpture, “Bring Back the Extinct Northern White Rhino,” was featured in an exhibition about animal extinction at The Buffalo Museum of Science, and she had a solo exhibition of her work her at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, PA, in 2022-2023. Several of her artworks are in the collection of Artemizia Foundation Museum in Bisbee, Arizona. In 2020 She was awarded the Dean Alan Olson Purchase Award at the Rockford Art Museum and she was awarded Best of Show at the 2021 Evanston and Vicinity Biennial, Evanston, IL. In 2019 she was awarded the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Independent Artist Project Grant and an Illinois Arts Council CAAP Grant, in 2009. She also received fellowship awards from Illinois Arts Council and from the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities. Her large-scale public sculpture “Shoe of Shoes” is in the collection of Caleres Shoes in St. Louis. Her sculptures have been commissioned by Sound Transit in Seattle, Comed in Chicago, and Arts in Transit in St, Louis. Her large-scale public sculpture, titled “Canoe Fan,” was purchased by the city of Ann Arbor and installed in Gallop Park.
REVIEWS
– Invasive Species – Beacher – August 2014/08/14
– THE STATE OF NATURE: RECENT WORK BY TOM DENLINGER AND VICTORIA FULLER by Bad At Sports
– Critical Americana in Chicago by Hyperallergic
– Review: Michael Dinges, Victoria Fuller, Geoffry Smalley and Karen Savage/Packer Schopf Gallery by NewCity
– Scientific American’s Blog
– Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
– Jyoti Srivastave at Public Art in Chicago (an excellent archive of photographs from the show)
VIDEOS
RESUME
EDUCATION
2016
Center Program (professional development program), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
1994
MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1994
MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
A Delicate Balance: Nature and Humanity, Visual Arts Gallery at Governor’s State University, University Park, IL
2022
Find Why: Vanishing Rhino, featuring “Bring Back the Extinct Northern White Rhino,” Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, NY
Works by Victoria Fuller, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL
2021
Project: Nature, Dec 2021 – Dec. 2022, exhibition inside and Museum on Wheels, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
2019
Victoria Fuller Solo Exhibition, Lee E. Dulgar Gallery,
South Suburban College, South Holland, IL
2015
Going Nuts, Installation in Dickson Window Art Project Space, Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL
2014
Nature², Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, IL
2001
The Emancipation of the Common Object, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
| 2025 | -Reimagining Everyday, Forum 301, Inaugural exhibition, Chicago, IL -Entangled Expressions: Exploring the Labyrinth of Linearity, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL |
| 2024 | -Lost and Found, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH -Pattern Recognition, Arc Gallery, Chicago, IL -This Living Earth – Our Shared Gaia, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL -Group exhibition, Alma Art and Interiors, Chicago, IL |
| 2023 | -Color/Form, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL -Animal House, South Shore arts, Munster, IN |
| 2022 | -Responding to Rhythms, Beverley Center for The Arts, Chicago, IL. |
| 2021 | -Permutations of Working Together, Artist in Residence exhibition, 3D4D Gallery, Chicago, IL -Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence, (featured artist and juror), Art Center Highland Park, Highland Park, IL -Evanston and Vicinity 2021 Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston IL |
| 2020 | -76th Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford, IL |
| 2019 | -The Plant Show, Ground Level Platform Gallery, Chicago, IL -Grappling With a luminous Doom, Beverly Art Center, Curated by Sal Campbell and Carla Winterbottom, Chicago, IL |
| 2018 | -Evanston and Vicinity Biennial 2018, Evanston art Center, Evanston, IL |
| 2017 | -The 3rd Terrain Biennial, international exhibition of site-specific outdoor art in front yards, balconies, and porches, Oak Park, IL -Domestic Disturbances, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL -50 x 50 Invitational / The Subject is Chicago: People, Places and Possibilities, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL -Seeking Location: Mapping and Borders In Art, Lubeznik Center For The Arts, Michigan City, IN |
| 2016 | -The Measure of All Things: Rethinking Humanism through Art, University of Buffalo, Department of Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY -New Business, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL -True To Form, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN -Tempo Memoria, Museo Internazionale Italia Arte, Turin, Italy -Making Nature, NEIU Fine Arts Center Gallery, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL |
| 2015 | -Disruption, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ -Hybrid’s Paradise, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL -Canoe Imagine Art, Large Scale outdoor installation in Gallup Park of Canoe Fan, Ann Arbor, MI -Scientificious, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH |
| 2014 | -Invasive Species: The Art of Upcycling, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN -Art Gathering Series: Sculptors Connect, Atrium Gallery, Governors State University, University Park, IL -Plants, Birds, & Pollinators: Art Serving Science, Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Denver Botanical Gardens, Denver, CO |
| 2013 | –Gallery Artists Group Show, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, IL |
| 2012 | -Chicago Twelve: Twelve Artists Mobilizing the Earth, Zhou B. Art Center, curated by Sergio Gomez, Chicago, IL |
| 2011 | -Recycled, Reclaimed, Repurposed, Willis Tower, curated by Nixon Art Associates, Chicago, IL –Ethereal Fauna, H. F. Johnson Gallery at Carthage College, H. F. Johnson Gallery, Kenosha, WI |
| 2010 | –2010: Sculpture Invasion, Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL |
| 2009 | –Art Prize: Grand Rapids, Devos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI –Size Matters, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, IL -Paradise Lost?: Climate Change in the North Woods, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum , Chicago, IL |
| 2008 | –Chicago Sculpture International Biennale, Flatfile Galleries, Chicago, IL |
SELECTED AWARDS, HONORS, AND RESIDENCIES
| 2021 | -Best of Show, Evanston and Vicinity 2021 Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL |
| 2020 | -2020 Dean Alan Olson Purchase Award for inclusion in the Rockford Art Museum permanent collection, Rockford, IL |
| 2019 | -Individual Artists Program Grant, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Chicago, IL |
| 2012 | -Artist Residency, Ragdale, Lake Forest, IL |
| 2009 | -Community Artist Assistance Program (CAAP) Grant, Illinois Arts Council |
| 2000 | -Artist Fellowship Award, Illinois Arts Council -Best of 3-D, Rockford Midwest Juried Exhibition, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL -Juror’s Award, 5th Evanston and Vicinity Biennial Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL |
| 1999 | -Artist Residency, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY |
| 1998 | -Linda Kramer Award, Artemesia Gallery, Chicago, IL |
| 1992 | -Associate Residency with Janet Fish, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna, FL |
| 1986 | -Creative Fellowship in the Visual Arts, Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities, Denver, CO |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| 2021 | Bill Mclean, Illustration by Barry Blitt, The North Shore Weekend, Sunday Breakfast, section, Page 18, Viva Victoria, Award Winning Painter and Sculptor Victoria Fuller, Energizes her Exhibition at The Art Center Highland Park, May 22 – 23, 2021, https://issuu.com/jwcmedia/docs/nsw_0522_sm |
| 2021 | Myrna, Pertlicki, Chicago Tribune, Highland Park News, The Art Center Highland Park debuts new exhibit featuring dramatic pieces created with found objects and items from nature, May 11, 2021 |
| 2021 | Ana Belaval and Natalie Skryd, WGN- TV, TV interview segment, Around Town checks out ‘Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence’ at The Art Center Highland Park, May 8, 2021, https://wgntv.com/morning-news/around-town/around-town-checks-out-ephemera-the-power-of-impermanence-at-the-art-center-highland-park/ |
| 2021 | Playtime with Bill Turck & Kerri Kendall, Radio Interview, (Sundays from 1pm-3pm) interview starts at 1:17: 26 – 1:29: 46, April, 11, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/PlaytimeWithBillandKerri/videos/480533036417807/ |
| 2021 | CGN Staff, Artist Q and A: Victoria Fuller, Chicago Gallery News, March 10, 2021, https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/3/victoria-fuller |
| 2020 | Rockford Register Star, “Rockford Art Museum Announces biennial winners,” October, 15, 2020 |
| 2019 | Alan Male, The Power of Influence of Illustration, Bloombsbury Visual Arts, pg. 242-243, 2019 |
| 2018 | Chester Alamo Costello, Somewhere In-Between Chicago, featuring artists of Chicago, hardcover book, artist edition |
| 2017 | Emma E. Jenson, “Seeking Location, Mapping and Borders in Art,” Bad At Sports, Blog, May 8th2017 |
| 2016 | Chester Alamo Costello, July 8, 2016, The Comp Magazine, online interview with Chester Alamo-Costello, http://www.thecompmagazine.com/victoria-fuller/ |
| 2016 | Ilene Dube, “Disruption, ISC Chapter Groups at Grounds For Sculpture”, Sculpture Magazine, May 2016 issue, pgs. 56-59 (review and feature photo of “In My Back Yard”) |
| 2015 | Grounds For Sculpture, “Disruption”, inside cover featuring “In My Back Yard,” Sculpture Magazine, Oct. 2015 |
| 2015 | Danny Zawacki, Coda Magazine (digital magazine), Earth and Urbanism issue, Global Garden Shovel, July 15, 2015 |
| 2015 | Jack Walsworth, “Recycled Canoes Form Public Art Along Huron River”, The Ann Arbor News, June 20, 2015 |
| 2015 | Rooney, E. Ashley and Standish, Stephanie, “Star Spangled!,” Featherweight Press (print) |
| 2014 | Monovios, Kalliopi, “Science Art Heats Up This Summer”, Scientific American Blog McKean, Lise, “The State of Nature: Recent Work by Tom Denlinger and Victoria Fuller”, Bad at Sports (review) Hartigan, Philip A., “Critical Americana in Chicago,” Hyperallergic (review) McGrath, Carrie, “Review: June 27, 2014, Packer Schopf Gallery”, New City (review and recommendation) |
| 2012 | Gomez, Sergio, “In Sync with Victoria Fuller,” Sergio Gomez: All Things Creative (interview) “Chicago’s Twelve”, Il Meglio Dal Mondo Magazine, (article in internationally distributed publication) “Wanderings: Seattle”, Western Art and Architecture Magazine (sculpture featured in Spring/Summer 2011 issue) |
| 2019 | “Making a Big Deal of It”, Seattle Times (sculpture featured in Arts and Life section) |
PUBLIC ART
| 2019 | White Peanuts, Live! By Loews, wall relief commission, Arlington, TX |
| 2016 | Canoe Fan, Large-scale canoe sculpture, gallup Park Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2010 | Fine Art Fridges: Peas and Quiet: Public sculpture created from recycled refrigerators, ComEd, Michigan Avenue and Discovery Center Museum, Chicago and Rockford, IL |
| 2009 | Global Garden Shovel: Public sculpture commission, Sound Transit, Seattle, WA |
| 2001 | I Want: Public sculpture commission, Arts in Transit, Bi-State Development Agency, St. Louis, MO |
| 1999 | Oh Say Can You Scream: Sculpture commission, ESPN Zone, Disney Regional Entertainment, Chicago, IL |
CORPORATE , MUSEUM AND MUNICIPAL COLLECTIONS
Artemizia Foundation Museum, Bisbee, AZ
Delta Airlines, Sky Lounge, O’Hare Airport, Chicago, IL
Live! By Loews Hotel, Arlington, TX
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI
Sound Transit, St. Luois, MO
Caleres Shoes, St. Louis, MO
Burrell , Chicago, IL
Mind Inc., Garrison, NY
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA