Curriculum vitae

Teonta Aviles was born in West Philadelphia, PA in 1996 and currently lives in Millersville, PA. She received two undergraduate degrees, BSE Art Education and BFA Fine Art, at Millersville University. Teonta has also been featured in many group exhibitions, most recently in An Eternal Essence: A Requiem for Rita, located at the Ware Center in Lancaster, PA, in which she showcased artworks focused on female identity. She was featured in the 2018 and 2019 Juried Student Shows, Sykes Gallery, Millersville, PA. Her first solo show was in 2017 at the pop-up Counterspace Gallery, Millersville University, Millersville, PA. Her most recent show, Apposite Realities: Matters of Black Life, exhibited in 2020. 

Notes from the artist:

My primary objectives in this collection of paintings are to shift the narratives of social identity and diversify the art spaces in which my work is featured. The subject matters of the pieces highlight topics of racial and gender identity. The portraits are my approach to appropriately representing the experiences of Black Life and shifting away from society’s chronic misrepresentations. My ethnic genealogy is a union of African American and Latino/a. Coming from an upbringing in diverse urban neighborhoods to a predominately white institution prompted me to represent my identity in my new
environment. I make the art I don’t get to see in my daily life away from home. Black Life and lives will always be celebrated in my art. These compositions bring diversity to my space and help me identify myself.