Bio
Rumpelstiltskin Morgan (they/them) is a neurodivergent artist (human) thinking, listening, collaborating, trying… to co-exist in an ecological space, one that is socially engaged, generous, and future-present through the micro-local relationships we engage in every day. Their work is influenced by sharing a life with their canine companions, dog training, and gardening. Projects take forms such as gatherings, artist books, zines, mail art, and writing. In 2021 they co founded the Visual Arts Experimental Garden + Lab (VAEG) at Syracuse University, an ongoing gardening project that is adjacent to, while opposing, traditional studio facilities, education structures, and university models of dis-entanglement. In 2022 they founded the Companion Species Artist Gathering Series, an ongoing inquiry into the effects of companion relationships on the human ability to sustain a sense of ecological consciousness. Their work has been featured in publications by Lint Art Collective, Variety Arts Programming, and Alastria Press, and co-created public programming at NAVEL during the Turner Semester Residency program, in Los Angeles in 2022. Morgan received a BFA in Sculpture from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2017, and will earn an MFA in Studio Art from Syracuse University in May 2023.
Statement
Neurodivergent(human)- thinking, listening, collaborating, trying…
I am a social practice artist working with re-socialization as a way of developing sustained ecological consciousness. That being the awareness and intention of interconnectivity of beings in such a way that influences decision making on the level of the intimate every-day.
My practice centers on the process of shaping behaviors between the human and more than human world in an effort to embrace the fluidity and entanglement of co-existence. Through facilitated social engagements such as gatherings, writing, gardening, and dog training, collaborative practices open the perception of the distinct self to the alive-ness of fluxating relationships while bringing forward spaces of “utility/functionality” and “play/humor” and their overlapping presence.
My limited capacity for direct human interaction has influenced the ways in which my daily life engages with other people. An alternative of feeling isolated, I needed to expand my definition of communication, and cope with the overwhelming infinite networks that we are a part – not apart -- of. While humans still have a degree of centrality, I am learning to begin and sustain different forms of relationships.
Swirl around in a large bowl until everything combines losing its independence.
Rumpelstiltskin Morgan
ramorgan@syr.edu
b. Ellington, Connecticut, 1993; lives in Syracuse, New York
University Education
2023 Master of Fine Art Candidate, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University
2017 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Rutgers University
Additional Education / Training
2023 Foundation Weaves: Fenzi Dog Sports Academy
2022-ongoing Dog Training with Syracuse Obedience Training Club. Classes taken: AKC S.T.A.R Puppy, Pre-Basic Obedience, Basic Obedience, Intermediate Obedience, Rally Novice, Agility Foundations
2022 Dog Training with West LA Obedience Training Club. Classes taken: Basic Obedience, Intermediate Obedience
2021 School of Machines: Art and Politics of Plants
2020 Barking Spa Academy of Pet Grooming, Dog Groomer
2019-2020 Middlesex County Master Gardener Training (incomplete due to covid)
Professional Roles
2020-2023 Co-Director of Programming for Graduate Arts Programming (formerly Variety Arts Group)
2022 Angels Gate Cultural Center Intern
2022 Founded the Companion Species Artist Gathering Series
2021 Co-founded the Visual Arts Experimental Garden
University Teaching
2021-2023 Adjunct Instructor, Syracuse University
2021-2022 Teaching Assistant, BFA Studio Art Thesis Class, Syracuse University
2021 Teaching Assistant, BFA Studio Art Second Year Class, Syracuse University
2020 Wood Shop Tech, Syracuse University
Community Programming / Workshops
2023 Upcoming- Companion Species Artist Gathering Series Presents: Re-Constitute Collective Relations With/In/Through Companion Animal Toy Architectures, mail art and in person gathering sequence
2022 Hosting Kinship (gathering series), Los Angeles, CA
2022 Karaoke and P.Y.O. Veggies, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Anti-Social Ice Cream Social, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Weaving Memories, public workshop for the Canine-Human Entanglement Session, Morris, NY
2022 (Being) (Extract)(ed), Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Hello, Earth Day!, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2021 Insert Name Mini Fest, Minneapolis, MN
2021 Hedge as a Membrane: Season 1, Syracuse, NY
2020 (Where) Is Nature?, Syracuse, NY
2019 garbage bags, performance, North Brunswick, NJ
Publications
2023 Leash lines I
2023 Issue #7, Pinky Thinker Press
2022 Harvest Guide, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 VAG Issue #1, Variety Arts Group
2021 Lint No. 1, digital and print publication by Lint Art Collective, Sweden
2021 At A Distance #5, digital and print publication by Alastria Press
Exhibitions
2023 Upcoming- Resist Towards A Permanent Culture For Our Mother, Cincinnati, OH
2023 I Thought I Knew, Syracuse, NY
2022 Petrichor, Syracuse, NY
2021 Tracings, The Living Gallery and Governors Island, New York, NY
2017 Catawampus, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2016 Art in a State of Mobility, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2015 Revolution, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2015 Intertwine, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2014 City and Myth, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
Curatorial Experience
2022 Hosting Kinship (gathering series), Los Angeles, CA
2022 Karaoke and P.Y.O. Veggies, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Anti-Social Ice Cream Social, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Canine-Human Entanglement Session Public Art Workshops, Morris, NY
2022 (Being) (Extract)(ed), Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2022 Hello, Earth Day!, Visual Arts Experimental Garden, Syracuse, NY
2021 Tracings, The Living Gallery and Governors Island, New York, NY
2021 Hedge as a Membrane Season 1, Syracuse, NY
2020 (Where) Is Nature?, Syracuse, NY
2019 garbage bags, performance, North Brunswick, NJ
2017 Catawampus, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2016 Art in a State of Mobility, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2015 Intertwine, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
Residencies
2022 Los Angeles Turner Semester Residency
2022 Companion Species Artist Gathering Series: Canine-Human Entanglement Session, Morris, NY
2021 Mildred’s Lane Independent Fellow
2016 Artist in Residence at Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Ireland
Awards and Grants
2022 NYFA Artists With Disabilities Grant
2022 VPA Graduate Student Memorial Scholarship for the Canine-Human Entanglement Session Artist Residency, Syracuse University
2022 Creative Opportunity Grant Spring 2022, Syracuse University
2022 AKC Novice Trick Dog Title with Mabyn (chihuahua companion)
2021 Creative Opportunity Grant Fall 2021, Syracuse University
2021 GSO Travel Grant, Graduate Student Organization at Syracuse University
2021 Creative Opportunity Grant Spring 2021, Syracuse University
2020 Creative Opportunity Grant Fall 2020, Syracuse University
2020 Shaffer Award, Syracuse University
2016 Mason Gross Student Governing Association Independent Project Funding