Seattle-based artist Dawn Cerny’s work evokes the sensations of home in profound and unexpected ways, as seen in both Dawn Cerny: Portmeirion and Frye Salon + Dawn Cerny. Using humble materials and everyday decorative items like rugs and curtains, Cerny is setting a stage that blurs the line between the theater of our living rooms, and the curated spaces of museums.  

Join Cerny for a talk exploring these ideas and more including insights into her artistic practice, how she records observations, and her thoughts on sleight of hand magic and misdirection as a means of day-to-day survival.   

About the Artist

Dawn Cerny was born in Carpinteria, CA and currently lives in Seattle, WA. Her recent work examines ideas of furniture and mothers as metaphors: figures that secure value for their potential to hold, display, or be absent-mindedly left with things. This pattern of holding as the creation of intimacy and belonging, pleasure, and self-preservation plays out repeatedly in her work. She received a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts and an MFA from Bard College Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. Cerny has been the recipient of two Washington State Artist Fellowships, the 2020 Betty Bowen Award and the 2022 Bonnie Bronson Visual Arts Fellowship. Cerny’s sculptures and works on paper are held in public collections, including The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, The Portland Art Museum and The Seattle Art Museum. Her exhibitions and work have been written about in Art Forum, Bomb Magazine, the International Sculpture Center Blog, The Stranger and The Seattle Times. She currently teaches at Seattle University.