Artists in Process – Collection #1 – Works of Art related to the Concept

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Perspectives on Place

The concept of place in contemporary art explores how environments shape identity, memory, and experience. Artists investigate place as more than a physical location. A place can be a city, landscape, home, or symbolic site connected to important events or collective identity. Through visual art, they explore how environments carry meaning shaped by culture, memory, identity, and social experience.

BIG Questions

How can artists visually communicate the meaning of a place?
How do artists represent place beyond a physical location?
How does place influence identity, memory, and belonging?
How do artists critique or reinterpret social, political, or environmental spaces?
How do changing environments, technology, and globalization influence our understanding and perspectives of place?
How can artists critique or challenge social, political, or environmental issues connected to place?

Explore these works of art through the lens of the concept – PLACE

and you did not even know enough to be sorry by Elizabeth Alexander (work of art)

we have a home by (work of art)

An abstract painting of multicolored, layered shapes

Untitled by John Biggers (work of art)

A painting of Black men, women, and children coming out of a shallow body of water. The people are framed by two monumental Black women holding a hair pick.

Water Jar by Joanna Blackburn (work of art)

Natural Time by (work of art)

Ocracoke Harbor by Claude Howell (work of art)

Claude Howell Ocracoke Harbor 1964 Painting

Overwinter by (work of art)

A layered mixed media work resembling a science fiction landscape

Summer's Where You'll Find Me by Louise Jones (work of art)

A large-scale mural of white, yellow, and pink flowers painted on a brick building.

People on Fire by Guillermo Kuitca (work of art)

A painted map of Argentina labeled with people's names in red and pink boxes.

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, 1982 by Elizabeth Matheson (work of art)

Matheson North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, 1982 1982 Photography

Convergence: Defenders Descend from Portal to Pueblo by Virgil Ortiz (work of art)

A ceramic sculpture against a gray-toned backdrop. The sculpture has a light beige base, with designs and figures painted in black and muted red-orange. The top of the sculpture is a bust of a man. His hair is up in buns with the sides of his head shaved bare, and he is wearing a cloak painted with stripes and squares. Flowing down from him on the base of the sculpture are 2D paintings and 3D protruding figures. These figures are a mix of men and women. They are dressed in different kinds of masks and helmets.

Chroma Iron Dragon by John Sabraw (work of art)

A mixed media painting by John Sabraw called Chroma Iron Dragon

South Lowell 18 by (work of art)

She Weaves White Gold by (work of art)

I, Buffalo by Lien Truong (work of art)

An abstract, mixed-media painting made with acrylic and fabric paints, silk, gold obi thread, black salt, and smoked linen.

Camy Truck with Jesus by Burk Uzzle (work of art)

Burke Uzzle Camy Truck with Jesus

Acknowledgment: Indigenous Land, Pachamama, Story Circle by Marie Watt (work of art)

An image of a sculpture set against a gray-toned backdrop. The sculptural work features a stack of folded blankets made of bronze metal. The blankets are on top of a plinth made of wooden boards that are stacked in alternating directions. There are colorful pieces of wool blankets tucked in between the wooden boards. The blanket pieces are embroidered with words and phrases and have fringed edges.