STATEMENT
Morgan Osburn creates ceremonies of disembodiment & dissection, remaking and reclaiming the body through assemblage and installation. Their altars are built layer by layer, in an intuitive balancing act between materiality and emotive content. Constructed bodies are repurposed, transformed, and sacrificed, then explored through photography, and performance. These tactile sculptural works reflect on the intimate contact and confrontation exchanged between two bodies. Morgan received their BFA in Studio Art and BA in Art History from Randolph College in 2018, their MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2020, their Art Education Graduate Certificate at UNC Charlotte in December 2020, and are completing National Board certification in adolescent visual arts, anticipated December 2026.
They completed a June 2020 residency at AUTOMAT COLLECTIVE in Philadelphia, PA, followed by their first solo show, Fragments & Evidence. They are a recipient of the Rachel Trexler Ellis ’44 Art Prize for Excellence in 2018, and the Rise Grant in 2016. Selected group exhibitions include Spilling: Beyond the Palette, The Arts Factory; Extra Credit, Gaston College; Sovereign, McColl Center; Jump Into the Fire!, Atelier; Shaping Conversation, PAFA; Exercises in Ineffability, Marginal Utility; Variations on the Artist Book, Philadelphia City Hall; Secret Haunts, PAFA; Action Verbs > Actions Words, Grizzly Grizzly; and B.A.S.E., Anna Zorina. They have several digital publications, including (EM)BODY Vol. 1-3; and Body(No)Body, Young Space, and was reviewed by Lawrence Toppman for the Charlotte Ledger in 2025. They currently teach IB & MYP Visual Arts and maintain a studio in Gastonia, NC, where she lives with her partner and two children.
CV
EDUCATION
Graduate Certificate in Art Education (K-12)
Dec 2022, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Art
May 2020, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Bachelor of Arts in Art History, with Minor in Religious Studies
May 2018, Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA
International Baccalaureate Diploma
May 2014, Myers Park High School, Charlotte, NC
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 AUTOMAT COLLECTIVE Fragments & Evidence, Philadelphia, PA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 The Arts Factory, Spilling: Beyond the Palette, Charlotte, NC
2026 Gaston County College, Extra Credit, Dallas, NC
2025 McColl Center, Sovereign: Honoring Bodily Autonomy, Charlotte, NC
2022 SouthEnd ARTS, No Boundaries, Charlotte, NC
2020 The Fellowship of PAFA, Resonance, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Anna Zorina, B.A.S.E., New York, NY
2020 Grizzly Grizzly, all at once / little by little, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Operating Systems, Alternatives ’20 Art House Philadelphia, PA
2020 Young Space Body(No)Body London, England
2020 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Intuitive Play Philadelphia, PA
2020 Atelier FAS Jump Into the Fire Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Shaping Conversation Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Daydream Philadelphia, PA
2019 Marginal Utility, Exercises in Ineffability Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Summer Love Philadelphia, PA
2019 Philadelphia City Hall, Variations on the Artist Book Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Circle of Care Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Secret Haunts Philadelphia, PA
2019 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Salon de Refuses Philadelphia, PA
2018 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Sense & Sensuality Philadelphia, PA
2018 Maier Museum of Art, Convergence Lynchburg, VA
MEDIA & REVIEWS
2025 Lawrence Toppman via Charlotte Ledger, “‘Sovereign’ is an arresting….”
ONLINE & PRINT PUBLICATIONS
2020 Digital zine, (EM)BODY Vol. 3
2020 Digital zine, (EM)BODY Vol. 2
2020 Young Space Body(No)Body London, England
2020 Digital zine, (EM)BODY Vol. I
2018 Hail! Muse Literary Magazine, short stories, poems, oil paintings
2018 Cotton Xenomorph Journal, Soliloquies
2017 Cotton Xenomorph Journal, Rock, Paper, Moon
2017 Cotton Xenomorph Journal, Between Infinity
2017 Hail! Muse Literary Magazine, prints
GRANTS & HONORS
2023 National Pan Hellenic Council Classroom Scholarship
2022 SouthEnd ARTS Classroom Grant
2019 Philadelphia Center for the Book, Member
2018 Rachel Trexler Ellis ’44 Art Prize for Excellence, Scholarship & Prize
2018 Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society
2016 Rise Grant, study art in Florence, Rome, & Venice
PRESS
“I don’t normally suggest visitors begin in the restroom, but I wouldn’t want you to miss Morgan Osburn’s “Stare,” a comment on the ubiquity of prying gazes. Dozens of pipe-cleaner “eyes” affixed with push-pin pupils surround the door downstairs and observe you on the commode, near a sign that reads “Once you have been ‘stared at’ in the bathroom, please return to the main gallery and continue your ‘Sovereign’ experience.” — Lawrence Toppman in Review: McColl Center’s ‘Sovereign’ exhibit explores bodily autonomy with power and wit, March 17, 2025
