Annika Tucksmith
My paintings are nestled in landscapes referenced from my upbringing in the Hudson Valley, taking the intimacy of the region to explore broader concepts of coming of age. Concurrently tender, quiet, and carrying an indeterminate sense of unease, these are stolen scenes where youthful figures are caught in unguarded, unchaperoned rituals— mischievous and solemn in the dark. We don’t know the outcomes of these rites of passage. Mysterious waters promise uncertainty and fires loom and beckon, just as ever-approaching adulthood warns of danger and delight for these children in ceremonious limbo. Local haunts thin time a little, realism is bent and tampered with, and fleeting narratives can exist forever as a moment in that dreamlike space between day and night.These paintings are moments In-Between.
Recent Work 
That Place Between Sleep / 2018-2019
Influenced by coming-of-age tales in folklore and literature and the common allegories that appear in them, (feeling lost in a world that is larger than you realized, what to make of a light in the darkness, and the adventurous Quest for self-actualization), That Place Between Sleep is a collection threaded with stories. With no past nor present, these paintings exist only as a moment, a glimpse into a narrative with more questions than answers. They depict moments In-Between.
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EDUCATION
2017 BA cum laude with distinction in Art at Connecticut College, New London, CT
AWARDS
2019
Martha Boschen Porter Artist Grant recipient, a Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Vermont Studio Center Residency and Artist’s Grant, Johnson, VT *Awarded but unable to attend
2017
Jane Bill Award, Art Dept. at Connecticut College, New London, CT
2016
Viewers’ Choice Award at Artist Cooperative Gallery, Westerly, RI
Salvatore Stephen Figliomeni ’82 Memorial Art Award, Connecticut College, New London, CT
2015
Mellon Grant recipient, Connecticut College, New London, CT
Salvatore Stephen Figliomeni ’82 Memorial Art Award, Connecticut College, New London, CT
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
”Art of the Hills: Narrative.” Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA.
“Shown from Afar: Art During the Pandemic.” Womenswork.art, Poughkeepsie, NY.
2019
Featured in Scout Pines’ solo show, “A More Perfect Union.” Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY.
“Reimagining Region.” Art School of Columbia County, Ghent, NY.
*Juror-selected speaker for “Real ARTalks: Region Inhabited.” April 14, 2019
2017
“Circuits.” Marquee Gallery, New London, CT.
“18 of Us.” Connecticut College, New London, CT.
2016
“Visiting Artists.” Artist Cooperative Gallery, Westerly, RI.
2014
“Artful Resistance.” Expressionés Gallery, New London, CT.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Upper School Faculty The Albany Academies, Albany, NY 2020 - present
Faculty Artist Learning Through Arts, Berkshire County elementary schools, MA 2019 - 2020
Faculty Artist IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, Stockbridge, MA Summer 2019 - 2020
Teaching Assistant & Student Advisory Board for Art Department Connecticut College, New London, CT Winter 2015 - Spring 2017
Art Workshop Leader Enrich, New London, CT September 2016 - December 2016
Art Instructor Reentry Columbia: Columbia County Jail, Chatham, NY Summer 2016
