Sunny Gravely was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is the daughter of a chemistry professor and an architect, who exposed her to the visual arts at a young age. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Howard University and began her career as a professional artist and educator. Upon graduation, Sunny decided to move to New York City and pursue her passion for the visual arts. She taught in the public schools and received her Masters of Science degree with a concentration in Art and Design Education from Pratt Institute.
Sunny has showcased her work in galleries from New York to Charlotte. Some of the exhibits she has participated in a one woman show at The Radius Group (Brooklyn, NY), a group show with Musart (Atlanta, GA), The African American Atelier (Greensboro, NC), NC A & T State University (Greensboro, NC), Art 1 Gallery (Charlotte, NC), Harvey Gant Museum (Charlotte, NC) Piedmont International Airport (Greensboro, NC), Kennedy Studios (Martha’s Vineyard) and other galleries around the country.
Ms. Gravely’s latest work has been exploring the “Black Lives Matter” movement and the current racial climate of our country. She believes these intense times cause a huge rift in the fabric of our integrated society, exposing the hate of the “old world” and humanity of the “new world.” She has created these vignettes to represent a visual impact of these experiences through her own lens and point of view. Each of her paintings diving deeper into the mind of a southern African American woman struggling to find sympathy and understanding in a nation of “have” and “have nots”.
Sunny’s work continues to change and transform with her age and experience. She is able to capture the essence of human emotion; anguish, frustration, happiness, and the vast emotions we experience in our lives, while experimenting with various materials. Sunny is able to reflect her universal experiences through her artwork.
Sunny Gravely is known for her use of vibrant colors and powerful imagery. Over the years her work has evolved. In the past, she has worked with mediums such as, watercolor, acrylic, ink and pencil to create these view ports of “southern living.” However, recently she has been working strenuously to master the art of collage and painting with acrylics. From textured paper to colored tissue paper, from paint to oil pastels, Sunny has found an elegant way to combine all of these materials.
- Created: 2018
Other Work From Center for Visual Artists and artist Sunny Gravely
