Adrianna Speer
(US)

Adrianna Speer (b. 1989) is a visual artist and educator based in Ruston, Louisiana. She holds a BFA from Louisiana State University and an MFA from Louisiana Tech University, where she currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Studio Art. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Site: Brooklyn (New York), Verum Ultimum Gallery (Oregon), Baker University (Kansas), Red Springs Artspace (North Carolina), Jag Gallery (Florida), Las Lagunas Gallery (California), the University of North Alabama, and Diderot Gallery in France. Speer’s practice has also been featured in publications such as QUARTERLY, Divide Magazine, and Mystic Minds Magazine. Her accomplishments include artist residencies in the United States, Ireland, and Italy; a Merit Award from the Tubac Center of the Arts; and grants supporting her participation in the Château d'Orquevaux Artists & Writers Residency in France. In 2026, she will continue her international engagement through residencies in Mexico City and Germany.

Speer’s painting practice explores the intersection of personal experience and universal themes, using both direct observation and imaginative reconstruction to examine identity, memory, and human connection. Much of her work begins with en plein air oil sketches, where painting becomes a dialogue with place, time, and the unpredictable conditions of the natural environment. Light, color, movement, and atmosphere serve as both subject and catalyst, guiding intuitive responses that seek to distill emotional and sensory experiences into paint.

In the studio, Speer combines traditional observational methods with digitally manipulated sketches to create pseudo-autobiographical mixed-media works. These narrative-driven compositions investigate selfhood, social dynamics, and existential reflection, blending lived experience with constructed imagery. Through this synthesis of observation and invention, she aims to capture the complexity of contemporary life and invite viewers to consider the space where the personal, the ordinary, and the universal converge.

www.adriannaspeer.com
www.instagram.com/adriannaspeer

(Photo © the artist)