Isabella Burnett is an artist, writer, and curator working in Albany, New York. Burnett holds an MFA in Studio Art from SUNY University at Albany, and a BFA in Studio Art with Dual-Concentrations in Drawing & Painting, and Sculpture, Minor in Art History from The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY. She has had artwork in the following exhibitions: 2024 MFA Thesis Exhibition (University Art Museum, University at Albany), Fence Select (juried by Yael Erel and Corinna Ripps Schaming, The Arts Center of the Capital Region), Fence 2022 (The Arts Center of the Capital Region), Home & Bound (Picotte Student Gallery) Senior Art Exhibition (Esther Massry Gallery) Annual Undergraduate Art Show (juried by Paul Mauren and Scott Brodie, Picotte Student Gallery), Strose C.A.D. Remote Show (Picotte Student Gallery) Threaded II: A Contemporary Collective (Envision Arts, Online International Exhibition, Best in Show) 120° Intercollegiate Region Exhibition (juried by Daniel Buckingham, The Arts Center Gallery at Saratoga Arts) Annual Undergraduate Art Show (juried by Julie Torres, Picotte Student Gallery) Critical Concepts of Drawing Exhibition (Picotte Student Gallery)
Burnett has curated/juried the following exhibitions: Introphantasm (Collections Study Space, University Art Museum, University at Albany, 2024), Visual Poetry (co-curator, The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 2023), Fence (The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 2023)
My body’s essence, the couple pounds I can’t shake, the wrinkles I fear will grow, the scars highlighting my skin, are captured by crossing red threads, plush fabrics, and textural explorations across the material’s surface. Rudimentary hand-stitching focuses my contemplation on the nuances of identity, physicality, and human connections. The subjectivity of found objects embraced by needle and thread hold a tenuous relationship to the unassuming textiles, creating a depth of personality and narrative. Often the work seems literally to be “hanging by a thread” as materials precariously weave, wrap, or pull against one another into corporeal postures. My work is developed through intersections of girlhood and romanticism, but as these genres both focus on self-realization and internal dialogues, I am further investigating the personification of the vessel as its own individual. Haptic trails of crossing threads, linguistic expressions and objects rooted in cultural resonance animate themselves into entities that exist beyond me.