2021 Artists in Residence Exhibit: Vanessa Compton
“I first visited The Brinton Museum in January 2018 while on residency at Jentel Arts in neighboring Banner, WY. After Ken Schuster and Barbara McNab kindly opened up the museum from its winter slumber and gave our artist group a tour of both the museum and house I knew that I hoped to return one day. Thanks to The Brinton Museum’s generosity of time and space I was able to return last summer. It was an absolute highlight of a year that was profoundly mixed for myself and I know for countless others around the world. I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to exhibit a solo show in the Northern Trust Gallery and begin the creation of 3 new collages while on residency. 2 of these collages are featured in this Artist in Residence exhibition: “The Daybreakers” and the triptych “The Nature of Violence”. While in Wyoming I also had the opportunity to participate in my first virtual reception and was grateful for the opportunity to present my work and artistic process with people joining in virtually from Big Horn and across the country.” Vanessa Compton
Vanessa Compton was born in 1981 and raised in Vermont. Vanessa has lived in Dakar, Senegal studying the kora and its influence on contemporary hip hop music, and Kumasi, Ghana studying Highlife and palm wine guitar. In 2005 she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from CU Boulder with an emphasis in ceramic sculpture. For many years Vanessa maintained a life of migration working as a seasonal rock climbing guide in the American Southwest and transitioned to working in collage 15 years ago. Her collages and sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the US and appear in private collections around the world. She has been awarded fellowships from The Wallace Stegner House, Vermont Studio Center, Hubbell Trading Post & National Historic Site, The Brush Creek Foundation, Tongue River Artist Residency and Jentel Arts. She lives and works in Burlington, VT.
