Exhibition Dates: December 17 – January 21, 2022
Artist Talk: Friday, January 13, 2023
The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents the culminating exhibition for the 2022 Post-Graduate Residency co-hort: Mrinal Joshi, Julia O’Bryan, Kamille Jackson, and Kiel Posner on view in Target Gallery.
This residency provides a unique experience at a critical juncture in an emerging artist’s career after they graduate their BFA or MFA program, allowing them unlimited studio access and the ability to engage with the community outside of academic context. The work on view in this exhibition will spotlight the work and creative endeavors these four residents created during their three-month residency in studio #319.
Join us for a reception and artist talk on Friday, January 13!
2022 Post Grad Residency Exhibition Catalog
About the Artists
Mrinal Joshi • January – March
Spring Hill College, 2018
B.F.A.s in Studio Art and Graphic Design
Website: 111rinal.com
@111rinal
Mrinal Joshi is an artist and graphic designer based in Washington, DC. Born in Kathmandu, Nepal, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 14. Mrinal’s artistic practice lies at the intersections of his lifelong fascination with culture and the collective consciousness.
The lighthearted synthesis and juxtaposition of classical western art and contemporary visual culture seen in his work become a vehicle to explore the temporal nature of existence with the digital era as the backdrop. His approach to and philosophy on artmaking is a meditation on mortality and change.
Mrinal holds two degrees in Studio Art and Graphic Design from Spring Hill College (2018). He has participated in several juried exhibitions throughout the country. Mrinal is currently a graphic designer with the in-house creative team at the Nature Conservancy. In his free time, he can be found reading, cooking, going to museums, hanging out or simply vibing.
Julia O’Bryan • April – June
Southwestern University, 2019
B.F.A., Ceramics
@juliacreates
Julia O’Bryan is a graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. Her work stems from her childhood growing up in southwest Missouri as well as from her struggle with an aggressive auto-immune disease. Her work is an accumulation of her experiences; from her childhood, from her struggle with an aggressive autoimmune disease, all of the things that have made her who she is. Based on the destroying and scarring found throughout her lungs and body from her struggle with her autoimmune disease, the coral is a reflection of the beauty that can be seen through decay. The wide range of color throughout the coral on her work is meant to reflect the passage of time through the “bleaching” effect it creates. Gold accents throughout the work is meant to draw attention to the beauty in the human body over time and the beauty through brokenness that can occur throughout life.
Kamille Jackson • July – September
George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, 2021
M.F.A., Studio Art
Website: kamillesimone.com
@ka_milleeee
Kamille Jackson is an interdisciplinary artist from northern Virginia. In her work, cosmic colors meet checkerboards from a long-gone suburban counterculture and symbols plucked from astrology and spirituality-based imagery. Floating and loosely abstract pictures form from the amalgamation of texts conjured by black conceptual artists, desert transcendentalists, and queer media. Through her work, Kamille builds a queer, black, mystical iconography with drawing, painting, writing, and embroidery. She earned an MFA from George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She recently shared a visiting artist lecture with the graduate students at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and received the Outstanding MFA Award as a participant in the Next Exhibition. She has exhibited work at The Garden, Target Gallery, Anderson Gallery, Studio 23, Bronx Art Space, Gallery 5, Richmond Library, and the Refinery Space. Commissions include Justin Allen’s Black Boots’ Ekphrastic Punk EP, Afropunk, Elbowroom, and Gallery 5.
Kiel Posner • October – December
Virginia Commonwealth University, 2020
B.F.A., Craft and Materials Studies
@kiel.posner
Artist Bio
Kiel Posner is a queer Jewish ceramicist currently living in Bethesda, Maryland. Their work investigates the legacy of the button factory their great grandfather worked his way up to owning after immigrating to NYC, from Eastern Europe, in 1912. 109 years later, after producing for Macy’s and Disney, what’s left of the now defunct factory are some ceramic decals and a dusty kiln. Kiel received their BFA in Craft and Materials Studies in 2020 from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. While in Richmond they were awarded a Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine arts and rented space at Shockoe Bottom Clay. Since relocating to the DMV, they have started teaching ceramics classes at Vis Arts Rockville and The District Clay Center.
2022 Residency Jurors
Jordan Brown (she/her) is the current Director of Education and Programs at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond (VisArts). She spent her childhood in Minnesota, but now considers Richmond her home. She has a B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in painting and printmaking and a Masters in Arts Administration from Goucher College. She is currently a board member of Partners in the Arts. She has a special fondness for all things printmaking, and still has her own art practice outside of her role in VisArts’ education department.
Oshun Layne (she/her) was born and reared in Brooklyn, NYC with a passion for visual arts and its ability to communicate a sense of inclusiveness across cultures, genders, and generations. Over the last decade, she has developed and nurtured an extensive career in arts leadership that includes institutional, gallery, and non-profit project management experiences. Through arts education, programming, artist development, strategic partnerships, and mentorship, she has been successful in bringing multicultural and multidisciplinary art forms to diverse populations. Most recently, she has carved out her curatorial imprint in museums and galleries regionally, working with scores of local and international artists.
Graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology, Oshun’s educational and professional journey lead to her becoming the Director of Galleries for Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. In this role, she increased regional audience participation and engagement by supervision of exhibitions and programming in multiple venues such as Rush Arts Gallery in NYC, Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn and Rush Arts Philly in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to Rush, she coordinated arts education programs where she oversaw the administration of educational volunteers, docents and interns for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Oshun is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Urban Policy and Planning with an emphasis on Non-Profit Management at Hunter College. Merging cultural studies, art, and policy, she seeks to create innovative pathways to bridge gaps between urban communities and private interests with a focus on arts awareness, cultural competency, and community partnerships.
