Amber O'Harrow

Bio

Amber O’Harrow was raised in the United States, living in California, Texas, New Jersey, Tennessee, Connecticut and Rhode Island. She has also lived a large portion of her life abroad, in Australia, England and France. She received her BFA with Honors in Textile Design and Fiber Art from Rhode Island School of Design in 1991. During her time there, she began her exploration of natural forms and developed a unique technique of tapestry weaving (examples of this technique are shown on following pages). Throughout the 1990’s, she live in Cambridge, England, where she taught private art lessons and continued to develop her tapestry weaving, as well as creating woven textile designs and paintings at her studio at Wysing Arts, Bourne, UK. In 2000, seeking more inspiration from Nature, Amber moved to the foot-hills of the Pyrenean Mountains in south-western France, where she restored a French farmhouse and created an organic farm. While in France, she added digital photography and digital textile design to her repertoire, collecting numerous images of natural forms for her work. In 2007, she moved to Iowa, USA, where she completed her MA in Metal Arts and 3-D Design and then her MFA in Metal Arts and Sculpture, at the University of Iowa, studying with Professor Chunghi Choo. Amber lives on a small farm outside of Iowa City, where she works in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional mediums and forms, that show a strong sense of textile structures and natural forms. Nature has always been a strong theme in her work and the personal act of traditional farming, as well as the ecology of the prairie where she now lives, are direct influences on her work. She considers herself an “integrated method artist”, working in many techniques and materials in order to make a more direct and intuitive expression of her experiences through her work.

Resume

EDUCATION

University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History
MFA Jewelry and Metal Arts, Minor in Sculpture, Certificate in College Teaching.

University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History
MA Jewelry and Metal Arts, Minor in 3D Design.

Rhode Island School of Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors: Painting, Drawing and Textile Design and Fine Art. Senior thesis consisted of paintings, drawings aAnd textile diptych, using an original weaving technique developed by the artist.

University of Tennesee
Art Foundation Year

Parsons School of Design                                                                                         Summer Program in France: studied painting, drawing and art history.

ART EXHIBITIONS

MFA Solo Show, Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
MA Graduate Show, Market-Dubuque Gallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
Venus Envy Quad Cities, Bucktown Art Center, Davenport, IA, USA
Graduate Metal Arts Exhibition, Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
34th Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition, Augustana College Art Musuem, Rock Island, IL, USA
Graduate Art Congress Exhibition, Market-Dubuque Gallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
MA Show - Allison Tipton and Amber O'Harrow, Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
Plural, Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Polytechnique Institute de Leiria, Caldes de Rainhna, PORTUGAL
Graduate Art Exhibition, University of Iowa Hospital, Iowa City, IA, USA
Metalwork Show, Levitt Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Dropseed Memory Project Exhibition, Arts Iowa CityGallery, Iowa City, IA, USA
A Riveting Experience, Iowa Metals Guild, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA, USA
Displacement, Quad City Arts, Moline International Airport and Figge Art Museum, Moline, IL, Davenport, IA, USA
Present/Represent, Digital Exhibition, Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference, Philadelphia, PA, USA
R & D, Icon Gallery, Fairfield, IA, USA
School of Art and Art History Metal Arts Graduate Exhibition, Studio Art Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Moving Forward, Studio Arts Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA USA
Small Works Show, The Chait Galleries Downtown, Iowa City, USA           School of Art and Art History Incoming MA Exhibition, Studio Art Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
Riviera Textile Exhibition, Riviera Gallery, Hastings, UNITED KINGDOM
International Fiber Art Show, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, POLAND
(with well-known textile artist , such as Lea Cook and Cynthia Schira)
Cambridge Arts Forum Annual Exhibition, Emmanuel Church, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Exhibition of Unique Textile Miniatures, White Frigate Gallery, Gdynia, POLAND
Spring Show, Wysing Arts Gallery, Bourn, Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM
6th International Fiber Art Symposium, Lodz, POLAND (with well-known textile artists, such as Lea Cook and Cynthia Schira)                                  Cambridge Arts Festival, Wysing Arts Gallery, Bourn, Cambridge,
UNITED KINGDOM
Senior BFA Exhibition, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
Textile Exhibition, Waterman Building Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
Textile Exhibition, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
Solo Drawings and Paintings Exhibition, University Arts Building, Knoxville, TN, USA

AWARDS AND HONORS
2nd Place, 10th ANNUAL S&AM SMITHING AND ART MATERIALS AWARDS, University of Iowa
Honorable Mention, Lois Jecklin Annual Metals Competition
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History Teaching Assistantship
Lucinda Mendenhall Wilde Scholarship
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History Graduate Fellowship
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History Teaching Assistantship
Best Presentation Award, Jakobsen Conference, University of Iowa
Performance and Display, 2nd Place, Jakobsen Conference, University of
Iowa

PUBLICATIONS
Front Page Featured Artist, Crafthaus Website
Exhibition Catalogue, Exhibition of Unique Textile Miniatures, White Frigate Gallery, Gdynia, POLAND
Exhibition Catalogue, International Fiber Art Show, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, POLAND

COLLECTIONS AND COMMISSIONS
The White Figate Gallery, Gdynia, Poland
Mr. M. Atherton-Rumney, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Dr. L. Acton and Dr J. Morris, Bourn, United Kingdom
Mr. and Mrs. B. Cook, Comberton, United Kingdom
Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Wood, Fayetteville, NC, USA
Mr. and Mrs. R.S. Cantrell, Houston, TX, USA
Mr. and Mrs. A. Greenberg, Chicago, IL, USA
Mr. and Mrs. Wolstencroft, London, United Kingdom
Mr. and Mrs. Gerry Eskin, Iowa City, IA and Aspen, CO, USA
Mr Sam Gassman, New York City, NY, USA

LECTURES
Graduate Student Panel on Hybrid Art, Falconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, USA
Presentation of Recent Work, 11th Jakobsen Conference, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
Presentation of Recent Work, 6th International Fibre Art Symposium, Lodz, POLAND
A History of Liberty of London Textile Design, Newton Village Hall, Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM

Iowa City, IA
(2010-2010)

Iowa City, IA
(2008-2010)

Providence, RI
( 1989-1991)

Knoxville, TN
(1988-1989)

Paris, France
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