When I was a child, I thought an artist was someone who could draw representationally. Whereas I myself, could not. I did however, have an artist studio — my childhood closet. Drawing on memory and relevant happenings, I would paste items I collected into old books, to create a newer version of an older story. They pieced together narratives that address aspects of disorder, time and their inseparability. They honored my many irrational superstitions, weaving past with present to construct an imagined world inside of a perceived reality. I still paste things together. The act of doing so helps me to see and create an illusory order. Through layers of acrylic, graphite, ink, pigment and wax, I strive to convert a familiar chaos into something relatively tidy. The elements are fused together in a nonlinear progression, until the process takes on a life of its own, often divergent from my original plan.
This work is about the inner conflict that comes with embracing imperfection, while simultaneously resisting what I cannot accept. It’s a means of navigating a relevant and seemingly shared uncertainty, while separating my own perceptions from a collective disquiet. It allows me to rewrite the language of time, replacing disorder with snippets of thought, memory and intentional ambiguity. Through it, I’m able to reach into a blurry yet calculated void, and make tangible what I’m otherwise unable to control.
Peggy Washburn is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work has been acquired by permanent collections, including the Bibliothéque Nationale de France, The Harry Ransom Center, Museo Nazionale della Fotografia and The Ralph Lauren Collection. In addition to numerous gallery shows, her work has been exhibited at The Woodmere Art Museum, The Rose Lehrman Art Center, The Frye Art Museum, The Seattle Art Museum Gallery, The Whatcom Museum of History and Art, and Aperture NYC. Her work has been published in Frames Magazine, Lenscratch, Od Review, One Twelve, BETA Developments In Photography and Musée Magazine. She works on both East and West coasts, and currently lives in Philadelphia.
2022
The Print Center 96th Annual International Competition Fish/Pearce Award
BUP Book Award finalist
2021
Lens Culture Critics’ Choice Award
BUP Book Award finalist
2018
Lens Culture Art Photography Awards
2016
International Photo Awards
2014
Winter Art Walk Awards, City Arts
2011
IPA Lucie Awards
2006
Women In Photography International
2005
Black and White Spider People’s Choice Award
2004
PCNW Roy Flukinger Award
2023 Frames Magazine -The Female Gaze by Diana Nicholette Jeon
2023 Lenscratch Magazine - June 2023 interview / feature with Greg Banks
2022 Musée Magazine - 2022 interview / feature with Nemo Chen, Woman Crush Wednesday
2022 BETA Developments In Photography - no. 41
2021 One Twelve 2021 - Poignant Portfolio no. 26
2021 One Twelve 2021 - Diffusion, Volume X
2021 Picture of Lily 2021 - Precisamente Ahora
2018 Od Review 2018 - A Familial Disorder, The Art of Peggy Washburn
2018 Lens Culture 2018 - Entropy
2008 23 Sandy Gallery 2008 - Resurrection
2007 Women In Photography International - Turning Silver (custom hard bound book, sponsored by Kodak), 2007
2003 Black and White Magazine, 2003
2005 Fotophile, 2005
2004 Photovision (Spain), 2004
2004 Archives of Pediatric Medicine, 2004
2004 Shots Magazine 2004
2004 Camera Arts, 2004 2004 Parade Magazine 2004
2023 Rose Lehrman Arts Center at HACC, Artist Talk
2017 Portland Art Museum, Artist Talk
2003-2009 University of Washington, yearly Guest Lecturer for MFA program
2003 Frye Art Museum, Panel Discussion with Dr. Naomi Rosenblum, Ellen Garvins and Gail Gibson
2001 Directions in Photography Artist Talk
1991-2002 Faculty Photographic Center Northwest
1991-2002 Faculty Bellevue Community College
2018-2023
Director of Photo Club, an after school photography program for at-risk youth in North Philadelphia
2017-2023
Academic Advisory Board member, University of Washington, Certificate in Photography
2017-2018
Photo in Schools (Non-Profit program bringing photography to at-risk youth in Philadelphia Schools)
2011-2013
Casa Latina (Non-Profit organization to help Latin American Immigrants in transition)
2003-2004
The Heart Gallery Project (Traveling state-funded exhibit to increase adoption in WA State)
1992
Director Insight Youth (Non-profit photography program for at-risk youth in Seattle)
1991
Instructor Youth In Focus (Non-profit photography program for at-risk youth in Seattle)
Bibliothéque nationale de France, Paris, France
The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Museo Nazionale della Fotografia, Brescia, Italy
Ralph Lauren, New York, NY
Women In Photography International, Los Angeles, CA
Seattle University, Seattle, WA
2023
Precisely Now, Rose Lehrman Art Center Gallery, Harrisburg, PA
2015
Learning To Write, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013
Passion and Reason, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
Entropy, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
Entropy, Seattle Art Museum, Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011
Entropy, Fine Art Gallery at Fontbonne University, St. Louis, MO
2008
Tangential Relations, Benham Gallery, Seattle WA
2006
Stories, Benham Gallery, Seattle WA
2002
Ghosts, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
2000
Two Years Later, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
1999
Two Years Later, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
1997
Time Out, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
1995
On the Road, The Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
Intimate Images, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
1994
Redefined Form, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
2024
Woodmere Museum 82nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2023
Woodmere Museum 81st Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2022
Wait Gain, Dab Art, Los Angeles, CA
96th Annual, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
2021
Art in the Time of Corona, Dab Art, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Studies In Nature: Photographic Views, Harris Harvey Gallery, Seattle, WA
Lens Culture Beyond Boundaries, Aperture Gallery, NYC, NY
2018
Connect, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
2017
Notions of Home, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
2016
Resident Artist Group Show, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
RIFFS, Photographic Center Northwest Seattle, WA
2014
Filtere, Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley
Entropy, Silvia White Gallery, Ventura CA
2013
Resurrectio, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR
2008
Seeds of Change, Friesen Gallery Seattle, WA
She Shots, Museo Genova Nervi, Brescia, Italy
2003
Home, Ricco-Maresca Gallery, NYC, NY
Photography Now, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA
Contemporary Northwest Women in Photography, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Elizabeth Brown Juried International, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
2002
New Directions, Joan Young Juried International, Barret Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
1998
Faculty Showcase, The Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
1997
Joyce Tenneson Juried International, The Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
1996
Benham Gallery Resident Artist’s Show, Il Museo Nazionale della Fotografia, Brescia, Italy
Faculty Showcase, The Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
