Across the Pond, an exhibit featuring the work of Annemarie Waugh, will be showcased at the Lyceum Gallery in the Montaukett Building on Suffolk County Community College’s Eastern Campus. The exhibition will run from March 12 to April 17, 2025. A reception for the artist is scheduled for Thursday, April 3, from 4 to 6 p.m., with light refreshments available. This event is free and open to the public.
Annemarie Waugh, originally from Birmingham, UK, delves into British culture through her art. Her paintings capture elements such as tartans, animals, foliage, and characters from British television. She also uses silkscreened expressions of British colloquialisms within abstract compositions on large canvases. The exhibition includes original illustrations from her forthcoming book "Across the Pond," expected to be published this spring.
Waugh's interest in language began in 2015 with an art installation that displayed British expressions and their meanings. This project evolved into a book exploring British phraseology. In "Across the Pond," she encourages viewers to appreciate language's humor and nuances by incorporating sayings from English, Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Scottish, Cornish, and Yiddish.
She writes: “The England I grew up in was chockablock with clotted cream... My memories include moss...and an aversion to taking life too seriously.”
Waugh moved to New York in 1994 and now lives in Setauket, NY. She holds a BA from Central Saint Martins (1992) and an MFA from Stony Brook University (2021). Her accolades include The Prince’s Trust Scholarship (UK) and The Stephanie Dinkins Kusama Scholarship (SUNY Stony Brook). Sponsored by Ashley Schiff Preserve and Stony Brook University’s Office of the President, she created "The Developer’s Midnight Fantasy" (2021), a multidisciplinary environmental installation.
Before focusing on fine art full-time, Waugh worked as a graphic designer in New York City during the 1990s for clients like Showtime and VH1. Her illustrations have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and Raygun Magazine.
Her artwork is part of several private collections including those of The Long Island Museum and VH1.
Waugh also teaches at Suffolk County Community College as an adjunct faculty member instructing courses in design and art appreciation.
Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on weekends except for a special meet-and-greet with the artist on Saturday, April 5.
Suffolk County Community College is noted as the largest community college within SUNY with over 21,000 students enrolled across more than 100 programs.