ARTIST Statement

The images that I work with imply a state of unrest and a sense of discomfort resulting shaped by the struggle and torment of internal and external conflicts, social and cultural. I use landscape imagery as a device to explore and confront this tension, as well as the tension between representational and abstract imagery, the known and unknown, the other and the self. Rejecting easel painting, I work directly on the floor utilizing unorthodox painting techniques. I often employ stones, sticks, planks of wood, sheet metal, concrete blocks, and carving knives to manipulate the paint and surface of the painting.

EDUCATION

2004-present M.F.A. Candidate, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

1989-1992 B.F.A., The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Area(s) of Specialization: Painting, Drawing

2001-2003 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

2000 New York University, New York, NY

1999 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

1987 1989 St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2005-2007 Instructor of Record, Foundations of Drawing, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

2006 Instructor of Record, Introduction to Painting, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

2004 Teaching Assistant (with Christopher Semergieff), Foundations of Drawing, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

1989 Teaching Assistant (with Michelle Charles), Beginning Painting, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

AWARDS / HONORS

2005-2007 W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

2006 Thayer Fellowship / Ross Grant Fellowship Nomination, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Dedalus Foundation Fellowship Nomination, Dedalus Foundation, Inc., New York, NY Dorothy L. Pieper Purchase Award, The Graduate School, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

2004-2005 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Graduate Scholarship, Fort Yates, ND

2004 Religious Society of Friends Scholarship, New York, NY

1997 Artist Fellowship (three-month), Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

1990-1992 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Higher Education Grant, Fort Yates, ND

1989-1992 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Merit Scholarship, Chicago, IL

1987-1992 Alaska Native Medical Center Auxiliary Artisan Scholarship, Anchorage, AK

1989 Second Juror's Choice Award, Richard Brush Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 Sturm und Drang, Melville Gallery, Stony Brook, NY

2006 Works in Progress, Melville Gallery, Stony Brook, NY

2003 Recent Work, Terazza Gallery, Elmhurst, NY, Invitational

1997 Recent Work, Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007 College Art Association New York Area MFA Exhibition, Hunter College MFA Gallery, New York, NY

MFA Group Thesis Exhibition, University Art Gallery, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY (catalog)

2007 Best of Show, State University of New York, Albany, NY

Group Exhibition, College of Optometry, State University of New York, Albany, NY, Invitational

2006 SUNY Student Fall Exhibit, 2006, Albany, NY (catalog)

2005 Art Show: Fine Art Street Galleries, Pittsfield, MA, Juried

3.75 oz., MFA First Year Exhibition, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

New York Mix, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York, NY

2003 Native Americans, Credit Suisse First Boston, New York, NY

Warriors of the Rainbow, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York, NY

2001 ARTWALK, NY, Benefit Auction, Coalition for the Homeless, New York, NY

1997 Sacred Art, The International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK, Juried

Big Drawings, TOAST Gallery, Anchorage, AK, Juried

Creative Lives: Women of the Smithsonian, SITES, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

1996 Singing Our Songs: Women, Art, Healing, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York, NY

1995 New American Paintings, Midwestern Exhibition Edition, The Open Press Studios, Needham, MA, Juried (catalog)

1994 Artists Auction Service, Georgart Gallery, Chicago, IL, Juried

10,000 Plus, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1993 Artists Auction Service, Georgart Gallery, Chicago, IL, Juried

1992 B.F.A. Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1989 Annual Student Exhibition, Richard F. Brush Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, Second Juror’s Choice

Second Circle, Owen D. Young Library, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cockroft, James. "Athena LaTocha's Sturm und Drang." SBGradMag (November 29, 2006), http://sbgradmag.org/node/168.

Romano, Jowy. "Sturm und Drang." The Stony Brook Press, November 2006.

Lenhard, Danielle, comments on "Nothing Personal," comments posted on April 8 and April 21, 2006. http://www.angelfire.com/art2/daniellelenhard/nothingpersonal.

Schultz, Natalie. "3.75 oz: MFA First-Year Exhibition." The Stony Brook Press, May 4, 2005

Native American Artists Roster, Amerinda. http://www.amerinda.org/naar/.htm

Susan Estrich, Getting Away with Murder, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998, cover image.

Ellen Pearlman, New Ventures, Interview, Manhattan Public Access Channel 69, 1998.

New American Paintings, Midwestern Exhibition Edition, the Open Press Studios, Needham, MA, 1995.

CURATORIAL

2006 Paumanok, Assistant Curator, University Art Gallery, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

2006 What is Native American Art?, Co-organizer, panel discussion held in conjunction with Paumanok, Wang Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

College Art Association

COLLECTIONS

The Chicago Bulls

Alaska Native Medical Center Auxiliary