Bio-
Lailee Josephine English was born in Rochester, New York; raised in an outside suburb. Before graduating from Webster Thomas High School in 2017, she exhibited in her first group show at Makers gallery in Rochester. She has an early background in visual arts and attended Alfred University for her BFA in Art & Design where she went on to complete 3 more group exhibitions. Most recently she is exhibiting her work in Rochester galleries such as Flower City Art Center, Art Museum of Rochester, and Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery.
Are you looking for a "why"?
Having always been drawn to mediums that allow smooth, human expression. Her earliest pieces have always had an element of emotion. In essence, self-expression and identity are important base elements to the work. She makes collages that include multiple textures and mixed media. She enjoys the exploration of different themes surrounding identity, race, feminism, and intimacy. Self is the subject that she further investigates the most because its who she knows the most; discovering what it means to capture personal emotion/feelings in art. Using more than paint and canvas, she enjoys decorating paintings and does so with care.
Lailee is conscious of using reusable materials, along with upcycling found materials; these materials she finds to have the most potential and characteristics to work with. Material exploration is always going on and this is because most of the time she is using objects that she is drawn to and figuring out how to blend them together in order to create something whole. She uses herself as the subject and experiences as inspiration.
Education-
2017 Webster Thomas High School
2021 BFA Alfred University
Awards, Grants, Fellowships-
2017 Rochester Institute of Technology Young Artist Award, Rochester, NY
2017-21 Art Portfolio Scholarship, Alfred University, NY
2021-2022 Artist-In-Resident, Flower City Art Center, Rochester, NY
Exhibition Record-
2017 Create/Together Group Exhibition, Webster Thomas High School AP Art, Webster, NY
2017 Fresh Meet Group Exhibition, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2019-20 Buy Black Friday Event, Sister Cicle, Alfred University
2021 Not Your Mammy, Jezebel, Or Angry, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2021 With Love… Group Exhibition, Art Museum of Rochester, NY
2022 Gettin’ Head In Life, 9th Floor Artist Collective, Rochester, NY
2022 Afro-Futurism Group Exhibition, Rochester City Hall, Rochester, NY
2022 Process Residency Exhibition, Flower City Art Center, Rochester, NY
2022 ROCO Member's Exhibition, Rochester Contemporary, Rochester, NY
Commissions-
2017 Public Art Commission, Webster Thomas High School
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2022 Public Art Commission, Lento Restaurant, Rochester, NY