Athena LaTocha, 2023 Saint-Gaudens Fellow

This exhibition features works created by the artist during spring of 2024 while Dartmouth Studio Art Department’s Artist-in-Residence. Athena LaTocha has created two massive works on paper for the Picture Gallery that are responsive to the natural and human-made histories of the Upper Valley. The austere installation is an immersive visual experience for the viewer that incorporates the colors, textures, history and materials that the artist has experienced and gathered in her exploration of the region. Rather than providing specific reference points, LaTocha’s goal is to express what can be felt or sensed about a place and its histories.

LaTocha commented, “I’ve always been interested in art that is rooted in our world, and the times in which we live, because that is the terrain where the stakes are greatest. In this world, nothing is quite as it seems. There is a sense of disquiet that permeates the land. My works are created for spaces where a person can go into another world and have an experience.”

LaTocha was the recipient of the 2023 Saint-Gaudens Fellowship, an annual award presented to an emerging artist practicing primarily in the United States. In addition to receiving a monetary grant, Fellows exhibit their work the following year at the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park.