Chloe Sailor is an artist from Maine who currently lives and works in Tallahassee, FL. Sailor works in and between painting, fiber arts, photography, and writing to explore ideas of maternal histories and memories that live around us. She is an MFA Candidate in Studio Art at Florida State University where she was the recipient of the Museum of Fine Arts Award and the College of Fine Art Research & Career Preparation Award. She received an MEd in Education and a BA in Studio Art with a focus in Painting from the University of New Hampshire, where she earned multiple awards and scholarships including the Malcolm and Virginia Smith Prize and the Grant Carlson Prize. Sailor has exhibited nationally with recent shows including group exhibitions at Zilberman Gallery (Miami, FL) and Swan Coach House Gallery (Atlanta, GA). She has an upcoming two person exhibition at 621 Gallery (Tallahassee, FL) and solo exhibition at 82Parris (Portland, ME).
Artist Statement
Unmoored whispers of maternal histories are alive in archives, burrowed- the pieces need to be unearthed, excavated, dredged to breathe. I collect these loose threads of memories from my maternal ancestors who have called Maine home for generations and use Critical Fabulation to repair them, darning them with fiction and thread.
My work resides in between painting, fiber arts, photography, and writing, often softening the preconceived limits of each medium to create punctuated landscapes. Following in the steps of my maternal ancestors who created quilts from scraps to keep warm from harsh winters, I gather secondhand fabrics from Maine, giving them new life with paint and cyanotype.
Women’s history is often an oral one, passed down between generations but forgotten over time without being recorded in the archive. My practice restores some of these histories by weaving together a new narrative of Maine history.
CV
EDUCATION
2025 Expected - MFA, Studio Art, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2017 MEd, Elementary Education, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2016 BA, Studio Art (Painting), Minor in Spanish, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2014 Summer Intensive in Painting, University of New Hampshire in Italy, Ascoli Piceno, Italy
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 - Upcoming- Solo Exhibition, An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert, 82Parris, Portland, ME
Upcoming- Two-Person Exhibition, Threads of Memories, Shadows of Time, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Group Exhibition, Origins & Afterlives, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL (Catalogue)
Group Exhibition, Expanded Cyanotypes: New Directions in Cyanotype Making, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA (Online) (Juried)
Group Exhibition, HSF Excellence in Visual Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Juried)
2024 - Group Exhibition, Little Things, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA (Invitational)
Group Exhibition, Young Fresh Different, Zilberman Gallery, Miami, FL (Juried, Catalogue)
Group Exhibition, 200 Years of Tallahassee: A View from Florida State, Strozier Library, Florida State University, Tallahassee FL (Juried)
Group Exhibition, Anything That Moves, MFA Online Exhibition (Online) (Juried)
2023 - Group Exhibition, Level 2, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Group Exhibition, Identity, Exploring the Human Condition, Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL (Juried)
2022 - Group Exhibition, Between the Lines, WJB Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Group Exhibition, City Life, Night & Day, The Rice Gallery of Fine Art, Kansas City, KS (Juried)
2020 - Group Exhibition, Art Dash, ShowUp (Formerly Beacon Gallery), Boston, MA (Juried)
2016 - Group Exhibition, Kaleidoscope, Castle in the Clouds, Moultonborough, NH (Juried)
Group Exhibition, MFA, BFA, and BA Candidate Exhibition, University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, NH
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2025 - Andy McLachlin Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2024 - College of Fine Art Research & Career Preparation Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2022/23 - Museum of Fine Arts Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2016 - Malcolm and Virginia Smith Prize, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2015/16 - Grant Carlson Prize, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2015/16 - Edwin & Mary Scheier Art Award, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2015/16 - Ernest Clarke '59 Art Scholarship Fund, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2013 - Arts Alumni Scholarship, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2023- Present Instructor of Record, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Courses Taught: Drawing Foundations- Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025)