ANNA SPEER 

(b. 2003, Tampa, FL)

Lives and works in Tallahassee, FL​

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​Anna Speer paints compositions that point out the absurdity of genetic family ties and the surreality of the suburbs.  Through the use of recurring symbols, geometric motifs, and eerie atmospheres, Speer’s work draws attention to the nuanced realm of familial relationships and what separates a stranger from a family member.  Her work exists as an awkward conversation with a past that is not hers, taking inspiration from figures, technology, and architecture from bygone eras to create an air of uncanny familiarity that references misremembered stories and spaces.
 
Speer plays with ideas of false memory by manipulating and cropping a personal archive of distant family photos, placing individuals in imagined worlds that manifest as murky and surreal suburban landscapes.  These landscapes emphasize the individualistic and disconnected energy of a spaced-out suburbia and the effect these scenes have on communication in today’s isolating yet overstimulating social atmosphere.  A lack of communication creates a vast and uncanny void present in both relationships and spaces.  Through painting, Speer reaches into this space to grab distorted stories and combine memories that are both personal and distant, reshaping them into a new conversation.

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