Whitney Lea Sage is an artist born and raised in Farmington Hills who graduated cum laude from Miami University at Oxford in 2008. She has earned academic scholarships and awards for her work in painting. In 2009 she began her graduate studies at the Sam Fox School of Art of Washington University in St. Louis, including summer spent abroad in Berlin, Germany. During her education, Whitney exhibited her Ruin Porn Series at the Lewis Center Exhibition Space and in the MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Recent shows include the Michigan Annual Exhibition in Mount Clemens, Michigan and several works on display in the Elements gallery space at the Detroit Artist Market. Currently, she is working as an intern at MOCAD.
“My thesis and graduate work has all dealt with the history and current climate of the city of Detroit. This has at times involved the national obsession with “ruin porn”, the utopian idealism surrounding turn of the century Detroit and the dystopian realities of Detroit’s former manufacturing palaces and historic neighborhoods. My most recent work, “My City, My Home, My Body Series”, specifically discusses the physical and emotional conditions of loss experienced when the space of the home and homeland are in a state of decline.”
Whitney’s work has been featured in a number of publications including Inklings Literary Journal, Rites of Passage exhibition catalogue, Washington University in St. Louis’ MFA 2011 catalogue, and Detroit: A Brooklyn Case Study exhibition catalogue.
More of Whitney Sage’s work can be seen at www.whitneysage.com.