Meet Individual Artist Fellows Diane Fox and Paul Harrill

From Krishna Adams, Director of Visual Arts, Craft, Media and Design

Diane Fox

Knoxville

A distinguished lecturer in the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Fox teaches photography and graphic design courses. Fox received her M.F.A. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and her B.F.A. from Middle Tennessee State University.

Her work has been exhibited at the Erie Art Museum in Erie, PA; Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, AL; Greyfriars Art Space in Norfolk, England; Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfort, Germany; Sarratt Gallery in Nashville, TN; Los Angeles Center for Digital Photography in Los Angeles, CA; the Camera Club of New York, New York, NY; and Prix de la Photographie in Paris, France. Find out more about Diane Fox at www.dianefoxphotography.com.

I am interested in the ways we objectify nature, both positively and negatively. The dancing, happy pigs used as icons for BBQ joints and meatpacking plants have always struck me as deeply ironic. Plastic animals take us for rides in theme parks and animated versions sell us products. Nature comes to us, viewed through glass windows at the zoo, natural history museum or framed on television. – Diane Fox

UnNatural History is a collection of photographs shot in natural history museums. This particular image was shot in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colorado. Using reflection and the inclusion of items within the diorama’s case meant to remain unseen, Fox seeks to point to its unreality and the disconnection within the human/animal relationship.

Paul Harrill

Knoxville

Over nearly 20 years, Harrill has written and directed film shorts and features. He received a B.A. at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and M.F.A. in Film and Media Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Before teaching at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Harrill also taught at Temple, Virginia Tech. He is also the co-founder and programmer of The Public Cinema, a venue that promotes dialogue through screening works that might otherwise not have an audience in Knoxville. 

Harrill’s films have been screened extensively nationally and internationally at festivals including Sundance in Utah, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Edinburgh in Scotland, Clermont-Ferrand in France, and Sydney in Australia; as well as at museums including Museum of Modern Art in New York, ICA London, Warsaw Centre for Contemporary Art and the Frist Museum in Nashville among others. See more of Harrill’s work atwww.selfreliantfilm.com/harrill.

In my screenplays and films, I tell stories focused on characters modeled on people I know in my community, and the themes are grounded in my own personal experience and in the experiences of others around me… My films are, ultimately, mysteries, though not in the traditional sense of that word. They pose more questions than they answer. They end without complete resolution. And they do so because, no matter the genre or story, my goal is to respect the audience’s intelligence and help the viewer reflect on what it means to be human. – Paul Harrill