about the artist
Practice + Focus
Abby’s practice moves across installation, sculpture, image-making, and publication, treating aesthetics as an active system rather than a neutral surface. She is interested in how objects, symbols, and materials carry authority—how a book, a floral sculpture, or a staged environment can structure desire, memory, and value.
Her work often takes the form of environments that borrow familiar visual languages in order to examine how meaning is produced, reinforced, or disrupted.
Background
Abby holds an M.A. in Design for Art Direction (Distinction) from the University of the Arts London and a B.A. in Political Science (Cum Laude) from The George Washington University. Her background spans design, research, and material practice, informing an approach that critically engages the visual systems shaping contemporary culture.
Approach + Process
Her projects typically begin with research into visual culture, semiotics, or material traditions and evolve through hands-on experimentation. Abby frequently works through scale shifts—using models, prototypes, or controlled material tests to explore how systems behave under pressure—before translating these investigations into larger spatial or sculptural works.
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Collaboration with craftspeople, researchers, or other artists is an integral part of her process, allowing systems of making to remain visible within the final work.
Contact
For exhibition inquiries or project-based collaboration, please contact: abbymdeardorff@gmail.com