Artist's bio

Becky Slemmons works in the disciplines of drawing, painting, video, performance, 3-D and fibers. She obtained her BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Michigan in 1993. There she was awarded the William J. Branstrom freshman prize, and two Richard Wilt Memorial Fund Painting Awards. Her studies also included biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology and literature. Immediately following, she attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, obtaining her Masters in medical illustration in 1995. 

She worked in the field of medical illustration for 6 years. In Portland, Oregon (where she lived for 8 years), she created the first digital on-line anatomy atlas. 

During this time, painting began to take priority in her life. She joined and was later elected president of Blackfish Gallery in Portland, with solo shows there in 2002, 2004, and 2005. She received a Barbara Deming grant in 2002 and an artist residency at Byrdcliffe, NY in 2005.

In 2008 Becky obtained her MFA in Baltimore at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), Mount Royal School of Art. That same year, she was awarded a Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Collaborative Fellowship. In 2009 she received a Heinz endowment to attend Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). She was selected for the 2009-2010 Distillery Program Residency in Pittsburgh. In 2011 and again in 2012 she served artist residencies in Germany.

She has shown work in Berlin, Germany; Seoul, Korea; Portland, OR; Baltimore, MD; New York City; Washington, DC and The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. She has spoken about her own work in conjunction with an exhibition of Jeffrey Vallance's work at the Andy Warhol Museum, 2012. She has donated artwork to and participated in fund-raising auctions, including those to benefit AIDS research, Oregon’s Sitka residency program and Oregon College of Art and Crafts. She was involved in a creating a community documentary video called “Finding Our Wings” about (and filmed partially by) six at-risk teenage girls living in East Baltimore. 

Becky held an adjunct faculty position at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) for three semesters. She has also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, among other institutions.  

In her work, she searches for truths that are common throughout multiple cultures.