Chloe Sailor is an artist living and working in Bangor, Maine. Sailor works in and between painting, fiber arts, photography, and writing to explore ideas of maternal histories and memories that live around us. Her recent solo exhibitions include 82Parris (Portland, ME) and Smith College’s Oresman Gallery (Northampton, MA). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Zilberman Gallery (Miami, FL) and Swan Coach House Gallery (Atlanta, GA). Her studio practice has been supported by an Artist Project Grant from the Maine Arts Commission and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Sailor received an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University, and holds both an MEd and a BA in Studio Art from the University of New Hampshire. She currently teaches as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maine.
Artist Statement
Unmoored whispers of maternal histories are alive in archives, burrowed—the pieces need to be unearthed, excavated, dredged to breathe. I collect these threads of history from my maternal ancestors who have called Maine home for generations and use Critical Fabulation to work within the spaces of absence, darning them with fiction and thread. My practice combines painting, quilting, photography, writing, and archival research to assemble fragments while allowing their seams to remain visible.
Following in the steps of my maternal ancestors who created quilts from scraps to keep warm from harsh winters, I gather secondhand fabrics and transform them with paint and cyanotype. Cyanotype and watercolor are applied to the fabric, often simultaneously. Once dry, I develop these images in water, a step that simultaneously reveals the photographic image and washes away portions of the underlying painting. This physical erasure is central to my work: the process of making one image visible requires the destruction of another. I also incorporate regional quilt traditions, which provide a model for how art can hold knowledge.
Maternal histories and knowledge are difficult to find in archival materials, and this absence is not a neutral one. It reflects whose work was considered worth documenting, preserving, and passing on. Through acts of material and speculative repair, my practice makes these absences visible while creating space to imagine what might exist around them.
CV
EDUCATION
MFA, Studio Art, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
MEd, Education, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
BA, Studio Art (Painting), University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026- Solo Exhibition, An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert, Oresman Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Group Exhibition, Contemporary Landscapes: From Observational to Symbolic, Mosesian Art Center, Watertown, MA (Juried)
Group Exhibition, Enduring Ground: America's National Parks, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, Top 5 Critic’s Choice (Online) (Juried)
2025 - Group Exhibition, S.N.O.W. (Small New Original Works) ‘25, Sidle House Gallery, Freeport, ME
Solo Exhibition, An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert, 82Parris, Portland, ME
Two-Person Exhibition, Threads of Memories, Shadows of Time, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Group Exhibition, Origins & Afterlives, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL (Catalogue)
Group Exhibition, Expanded Cyanotypes: New Directions in Cyanotype Making, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA (Online) (Juried)
2024 - Group Exhibition, Little Things, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA (Invitational)
Group Exhibition, Young Fresh Different, Zilberman Gallery, Miami, FL (Juried, Catalogue)
2023 - Group Exhibition, Identity, Exploring the Human Condition, Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL (Juried)
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2026- Artist Project Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta, ME
2025- Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York, NY
Graduate Student Excellence in the Visual Arts Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Andy McLachlin Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2024 - College of Fine Art Research & Career Preparation Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2022/23 - Museum of Fine Arts Award, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2026- Present - Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maine, Orono, ME
2023-25 - Instructor of Record, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL