Biography

Anna Betts is an artist currently located in Gallatin, Tennessee, where she earned her Bachelors of Fine Art in studio art from Middle Tennessee State University. Betts' work draws inspiration from her mixed cultural backgrounds and explores the interplay of heritage and tradition within a variety of media. In oil painting she explores the interplay of light, color, and texture while her mixed media works include fiber and found materials referencing Laotian fabric and craft. Originally from Michigan, Betts has shown her work previously with the Adolfo Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she also served as an assistant curator. 

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Artist Statement

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My current body of work references the Laotian people uprooting their lives in search of a better one from war. They made a new home in America while assimilating to American cultural norms, therefore losing the home within themselves. Home for me is something that I cannot put a physical hand on. Throughout my childhood and adult life, I was told to go back to where I came from. I was outed for the way I looked, ridiculed by the ethnic food of my people, and spat on by anger. Throwing away my old home for a new one was the only way I knew how to get by. My family, among the many refugees fleeing from war, was stripped into pieces of broken identity. They are stuck in the in-between. As a child of this diaspora, this body of work is about paying homage to my heritage and celebrating my culture by embracing them within my work.  

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By utilizing a Western method of quilt making, I can stitch together different materials into one body.  The act of stitching pieces together symbolizes the way in which one’s heritage is bonded together and held close. I include the use of thread as a symbol for the connections to past, present, and future; the ties that bind us. Collage is important as a process and metaphor because with a collage, you can see and know the pieces are from different backgrounds, but they work together visually to make a new whole. By blending pieces together with a traditionally Western method of quilt making, I explore the evolution of life after war. This is the story of coming home.