EDUCATION

2011 MFA, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2008 BFA, Two-Dimensional Studies, Bowling Green State University


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2011
Within the Landscape/The Landscape Within
Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron, Akron, OH

Biennale internationale d'estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières
Le Centre d’exposition Raymond-Lasnier, Trois-Rivières, QC

2011 Bemis Center Regional Exhibition
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE


2010
New Prints: Autumn 2010
International Print Center New York, New York, NY

Small Monuments
Tugboat Gallery, Lincoln, NE

The Printed Image 3
Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, Topeka, KS (juror's award)

30th Annual National Print Exhibition
Artlink, Fort Wayne, IN (juror's award)

Nice Place to Visit: Printmaking and the Anxious Landscape
Davis Gallery, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY

2009
20/20 Vision, Second Edition: The Art of Contemporary University Printmaking
Fire House Gallery, Louisville, GA

North American Graduate Art Survey
Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Boston Printmakers 2009 North American Print Biennial
808 Gallery, Boston University, Boston, MA

6th Minnesota National Print Biennial
Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

2008
Printmaking Today
Dedalo Center for Contemporary Art, Abruzzo, Italy

Under Construction
Space 237, Toledo, OH

Harnett Biennial of American Prints
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA

American Impressions: Contemporary American Printmaking
William Paterson University, NJ


HONORS AND AWARDS

Thomas P. Coleman Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Sheldon Museum of Art

Graduate Studies Research Fellowship, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

James W. Strong 2-D Studio Achievement Award, Bowling Green State University


SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Dedalo Center for Contemporary Art, Abruzzo, Italy
Hallmark, Inc. Fine Art Collection, Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Sheldon Museum of Art, Coleman Collection, Lincoln, NE
Syracuse University Galleries, Syracuse, NY


PUBLICATIONS

L. Kent Wolgamott, “All the work is strong in Kiechel show,” Lincoln Journal Star, May 15, 2010

Dan Swartz, “ARTLINK 30th Annual National Print Exhibition,” Fort Wayne Reader, May 10, 2010

The Journal of the Mid America Print Council, Fall/Winter 2008, Volume 16 Issue 2

Sean P. Morrissey was born and raised on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. He received his MFA in studio art from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his BFA in two-dimensional studies from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Sean's current work focuses on the contemporary American landscape dealing with population, identity, land use and consumerism. Sean utilizes printmaking techniques, both traditional and non-traditional, and also creates large-scale paperworks on walls. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in several permanent and private collections.

My involvement with the American landscape is the foundation of my work. Always situated within ever-expanding environments, I am constantly involved with the effects of land use, construction, and expansion occurring around me. Because of this, I examine the contemporary landscape for architecture and forms that I perceive as over-used and ordinary. I research through the use of personal photographic sources and memory, coalescing and reconstructing my pedestrian findings into a fusion of information to emphasize the ideas of expansion. Concrete objects, barriers, façades, and building materials along with sub- structures, framework, and support systems are consistent characters in what I view and encounter within the landscape. Groupings of these forms function as a visualization of development and land use. The generic architectures that I highlight are usually unacknowledged and assumed. I’m interested in how we presuppose the existence of architecture by moving through the landscape while our surroundings become a blur of form and color.

The spaces I create are not representative of a definite place or time. I generate areas of constant development, where chosen forms are magnetized toward each other to create a new, nonspecific space. I create areas relative to construction sites, back lots, alleys, and the edges of cities. Creating these zones allows me to respond to the landscape and reinterpret my understanding of space, boundaries, and land use. By working additively, I am able to mimic the construction the land endures. Building and rebuilding layers through printed images, collage, markmaking, and other processes emulates the building process, enhancing the implication of expansion.

I choose to distill the information I use into a basic language inspired by numerous ideas revolving around geography and land use. The flatness and simplicity of cartographic design, maps, informational graphics (charts, diagrams), and architectural illustration is where my aesthetic originates from. These are used to clearly interpret information visually, which I implement within my own work for easy recognition.