When I first moved into my old, South Philadelphia house, everything that was falling down was buttressed with scrap wood, tied up with nude-colored, nylon stockings, and slathered with concrete. The supported structures were a mysterious and curious landscape that served as a record of the architectural history of my home. My neighbors Quintina and Mario were alchemists who could build or fix anything with a piece of string. Memories are delicate constructions. They are a labyrinth, a vast and intricate novel that at once documents, interrupts and obfuscates, creating floating entry points and a universe of emotions in every corner. In the "Shaker" spirit, I imagine a tiny wasp-worker making imaginary homes for important collections of most special memories.
Terri received her MFA from the University of the Arts and her BFA from Moore College of Art and Design. She currently teaches a variety of Studio Arts courses at The Agnes Irwin School, in Rosemont, PA. The school was founded in 1869 by Agnes Irwin, the first Dean of Radcliffe College and the great-great granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin. The legacy of excellence in all-girls' education has been evident for over a century and continues to enable girls and young women to achieve their best.
Terri has been a member and Press Coordinator of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Philadelphia since 2010. Tiger Strikes Asteroid is a network of artist-run spaces with locations in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Each space is independently operated and focuses on presenting a varied program of emerging and mid-career artists. The gallery's goal is to collectively bring people together, expand connections and build community through artist-initiated exhibitions, projects, and curatorial opportunities. They seek to further empower the artist's role beyond that of studio practitioner to include the roles of curator, critic, and community developer; and to act as an alternate model to the conventions of the current commercial art market.
Tiger Strikes Asteroid's exhibitions and projects have been featured in numerous print and online publications including The New York Times, Art F City, Hyperallergic, The Huffington Post, L Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Two Coats of Paint, Artinfo, Artnet News, Beautiful Decay, and the artblog.
Terri's "mice en place" of interests in biology, botany, classical music, geology, and gastronomy guide her construction. She builds delicate, alternating smooth and densely textured, porcelain sculptures. They are physical explorations of philosophical ideas. Without beginning or end, the sculptures suggest forms from nature but, just as easily, they mimic the branching, burrowing, nonhierarchical structure of the internet. She photographs the forms in various stages of production. The forms and photos become her still life. The system of distilled information provides an elastic and infinitely expandable language that fuel future drawings, prints and sculpture.
2006
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
MFA
1991
Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
BFA & Teaching Certification
2017
Digital Media for Print + Web / Certificate, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
2017, 2018
EE Ford Legacy Through Leadership Fellow, The Agnes Irwin School
2017
Professional Growth Grant, The Agnes Irwin School
2013
Knight Arts Challenge Grant for Citiwide
2010-2013
Faculty Development Grant, Moore College of Art & Design
2004-2006
MFA Merit Scholarship, The University of the Arts
1986
BFA Merit Scholarship, Moore College of Art & Design
2017
Newhall, Edith "In Philly galleries: Terri Saulin at Tiger Strikes Asteroid and 2 more must-see shows", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December, 2017
Ballowe, Heath "that which requires no battle," The Rib, December,
Thornton, John R. "Terri Saulin: Art to Remember," December, 2017
McGurk, Maura "Invisible Cities," October 2017
Keefe, Colin "First Friday: Paper Work at Snyderman Works Gallery," February 2017
2015
Schwartz, Chip "An Uncontained Reflection," Behance, August 3, 2015
Singleton, Douglas "Local Artists Explore and Respond to Permanent Collection at Center for Art in Wood," Knight Foundation, May 14, 2015
2014
Schwartz, Chip "Tiger Strikes Asteroid Celebrates Five Years With Lots of Love," Knight Arts, June, 2014
2013
Schwartz, Chip "Metaphysically Charged Ceramics," Knight Foundation, October, 2013
Schaefer, Anne "Terri Saulin Frock: The Garden of Forking Paths," Behance
Macfeat, Michael "The Solipsism of an Inverted Cartography"
Larry Becker and Heidi Nivling, Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
Shirley Luber, Luber Gallery
Heather Bryson, B2 Gallery
Brian and Juliet Englander: The Women's Imaging Center, Pennsylvania Hospital
The Van Pelt Collection, Finlandia University, MI
Member, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
Member, Philly Stewards, Philadelphia, PA
2010-present
Member / Press Coordinator, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
2014-present
Middle and Upper School Studio & Media Arts Instructor/Press and Social Media Coordinator for the Visual and Performing Arts Department, The Agnes Irwin School, Rosemont, PA
1987-2014
BFA Adjunct Professor, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
2000- 2014
Pre-School Teacher, Society Hill Synagogue, Philadelphia, PA
2009
Visiting Artist Lecturer, Finlandia University, Hancock, MI
1995-2005
Freelance Sculptor/Technical Drawings, Geronimo Co., Philadelphia, PA & Los Angeles, CA
2018
That which requires no battle, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
2017
Invisible Cities encountered on the road to the Garden of Forking Paths, The Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal A-West, Philadelphia, PA
2013
The Garden of Forking Paths, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
2011
Night is a Girl, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, PA
2009
Lines of Flight, Finlandia University, MI
2008
Dear Gilles and Felix, Moore College of Art and Design, The Window on Race, Philadelphia, PA
2006
Dear Glenn Gould, Highwire and The Rosenwald-Wolf Galleries, University of The Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2017
PaperWork, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Alex Conner
2016
Faculty Exhibition: The Agnes Irwin School, Thos. Moser Showroom, Wayne, PA
2015
Bag Check: Artist Run Miami, Ocean Terrace Hotel, Miami, FL
Other Selections, The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA
Tiger Strikes Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA
2014
(e)merge Art Fair, The Capitol Skyline Hotel, Washington, DC
Win Win 2: NIAD Art Center Invitational Benefit, Cliff Bar & Company, Richmond, CA
To Tiger With Love: A Five Year Anniversary, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
Liminal Sites: Faculty Triennial Exhibition, The Galleries at
Moore, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Kaytie Johnson
2013
Correspondence II, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Member Show, TSA New York, Brooklyn, NY
Sweet Suites, TSA Member Show, Society Hill Synagogue, Philadelphia, PA
Win Win: NIAD Art Center Invitational Benefit, Cliff Bar & Company, Richmond, CA
Chorus Effect: A Tiger Strikes Asteroid & FJORD Collaboration, FJORD Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Tabitha Piseno
2012
May Work: Terri Saulin & Patricia Robertson, Society Hill Synagogue, PA
Animated Architecture: Indoor Pop-up Exhibit, The Warehouse Apartments, PA
Curator: Sean Stoops
The Unsettled, University of Delaware Gallery, PA
Curator: Patrick Kozoil
2010
Artist / Educator, Rowan University, NJ
Curator: Heather Mae Erikson
6-III* - Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, The Haverford School, PA
Curator: Antonio Fink
2008
Footsteps: 160 Years, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA
2007
Faculty Triennial Exhibition, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Lorie Mertes
Receive, React, Respond, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
2006
Selected Faculty Works, The Kimmel Center, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Paul Hubbard
2005
MCAD Alumni Exhibition, The Cosmopolitan Club, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Shirley Luber
Multiples: Am I Repeating Myself?, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
Spaces: What Interior Designers Do, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
Other
2016
POST: The Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Philadelphia, PA
2015
Uncontained: Kelsey Costello, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
2014
Benjamin White: Impossible Machines, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
2012
Marc Salz: Talmudic Abstractions, Society Hill Synagogue, PA
Michael Macfeat: Bar Sinister, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
