uah home


monique givens

Monique K. Given


education


  • 2005 MFA Burren College of Art, Ireland
  • 2003 BA Studio Art, University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL





creative works


I produce constructed habitats, intuitively investigating multiple forms and utilizing unpredictable materials to elude conventional interpretations. These forms are physical and intimate reactions to selected sites, disrupting and transforming the passive spectator into an active participant.

The locus of my work lies in the psychological contests in which I find myself engaged, and the desire to evaluate the human condition and emotion in its most elemental and vulnerable states; a concoction of truths and parodies. I am intrigued by the relationship between humans, nature and machines, and the tensions created by the struggle for dominance amongst these three. Creating bizarre environments by deconstructing familiar forms, I seek to confront the viewer with an altered reality- a reality combining beauty and repulsiveness, the mundane and the arcane.

Through the use of unconventional materials and the element of play, I instigate a redesigned tactile iconography of satirical excess. With the intention of presenting a subtle line between kitsch and aesthetic skepticism, humor and faint familiarity become important catalysts for ambiguity and contradiction within my fabricated habitats.


Honors/Awards


  • Winner 3rd place People’s Choice Award, Recycled Art Show, Huntsville, Al 2009
  • Owner and Curator of Project 9 Gallery, Huntsville, AL 2008
  • Winner People’s Choice Award, Recycled Art Show, Huntsville, AL 2008
  • Visiting Artist, Catholic High School, Teaching advanced art 4 students, Huntsville, Al 2007
  • Winner People’s Choice Award, Recycled Art Show, Huntsville, AL 2007
  • Purchase Award - Permanent Installation, Bank of Ireland, Dublin
  • Michael Greene Memorial Art Scholarship, BCA, Ireland 2004
  • Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, UAH, AL 2003
  • WEDC Women’s Scholarship, UAH, AL 2002/2003
  • University Women’s Club Scholarship, UAH 2002/2003, UAH, AL
  • Jeffery J. Bayer Memorial Scholarship, UAH, AL 2001/2002

Bibliography

  • Huntsville Times Newspaper article, April 12, 2009, p.50
  • “Talking About Art” solo radio interview on WLRH Radio, 2008
  • Enjoy (insert in Huntsville Times Newspaper), Cover and article, 2008
  • Galway Now Magazine, June 2004, p.30
  • American Muse Magazine, Winter 2001, p.10.
  • Arête Literary Arts Magazine, Issue 1, 2001, p.3.
  • Visions of the Future, Fall 2001, p.2

Download syllabus for ARS 160-01 Intro. Drawing.

Download supply list for ARS 160-01.

selected exhibitions


2010

  • Mark Marchlinski’s Student’s Show, Group Show, UAH Salmon Library, Huntsville, AL

2009

  • 12X12X122, Group Show, (Featured Artist), BECA Gallery, New Orleans, LA
  • Recycled Art Show, Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Faculty Show, Bevill Center, UAH Campus, Huntsville, AL
  • Project 9, Solo Show, Gallery Stroll at Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL

2008

  • Solo Show, Renaissance Theatre, Huntsville, AL
  • Project 9 Opening, Solo Show, Gallery Stroll at Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Faculty Show, UAH Center, Huntsville, AL
  • pARTy, Group Show, Huntsville, AL
  • Recycled Art Show, Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Panoply, Big Spring Park, Huntsville, AL
  • Faculty Show, Presidents Office, UAH Campus, Huntsville, AL

2007

  • The Blue Show, Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Recycled Art Show, Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Project 9, Solo Show, Gallery Stroll at Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Faculty Show, UAH Center, Huntsville, AL

2006

  • Recycled Art Show, Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
  • Monte Sano Arts Show, Monte Sano Mountain, Huntsville, AL

2005

  • Internim, Tulca, Galway, Ireland
  • MFA Degree Show, The Gallery,
    • Ballyvaughan, Ireland
  • Shifting Ideas, Quadrangle Gallery,
    • Galway, Ireland

2004

  • Drawn from the Burren, Quadrangle Gallery,
    • Galway, Ireland
  • 1st Year End Exhibition, Burren College
    • of Art, Ballyvaughan, Ireland
  • 10th Anniversary Celebration, Burren
    • College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Ireland

2003

  • Senior Exodus Show, Union Grove Gallery,
    • Huntsville, AL
  • Student Group Show, University Gallery,
    • Huntsville, AL
  • Carnegie Opening Gala, Carnegie Arts
    • Center, Decatur, AL
  • Group Show, A&M University Gallery,
    • Huntsville, AL
  • Dining with Friends, Aids Action Coalition
    • Fundraiser, Huntsville, AL

2002

  • Recycled Art Show, Renaissance Theatre,
    • Huntsville, AL
  • Group Exhibition, Union Grove Gallery,
    • Huntsville, AL
  • 10th Annual Gallery Tour, Union Grove
    • Gallery, Huntsville, AL