About Me
Bio
Abby Huston (b. 2000, Logan, UT) is a multidisciplinary collage artist working with mixed media, including found paper, fabric, paint, and beads. Huston uses accumulation, repetition, and variation to approach her experiences as an ex-Mormon and eldest daughter. Her work returns to themes of deconstruction from a high-demand religion and complicated emotional landscapes.
Huston’s work has been featured in group exhibitions across the Mid-Atlantic, including Touchstone Gallery, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, and the Katzen Arts Center. She has completed residencies at the Sheepscot Arts Preserve and Peters Valley School of Craft, with upcoming residencies at the Kolaj Institute and Dorland Mountain Arts.
Huston holds a BA in Sociology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and is currently pursuing her MFA at American University in Washington DC. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and their two golden retrievers, Gus and Murphy.
Artist Statement
My work addresses how women transform after leaving high-demand male-dominated religious institutions– shedding the identity imposed on them, and being reborn into their own. Through mixed-media collage, I bring together religious and domestic fabrics, beads, paper, paint, and other materials. Collage is the foundation of my practice, serving as both structure and ritual for my material choices and subject matter. Through a rigorous process of accumulation, repetition, and variation, abstract forms take shape– frequently anchored by the recurring motif of a pomegranate. Functioning as both my backbone and altar, I use collage as a tool to examine feminine identity through the deconstruction of patriarchal social structures.
CV
Education
2027– American University MFA Studio Art Candidate, 4.0 GPA
2024– St. Mary’s College of Maryland B.A., Sociology; Minors: Political Science and Studio Art
Group Exhibitions
2026– Dimension: A Love Letter to Collage & Assemblage, Howard County Arts Council Gallery, Ellicott City, MD
Fifty: A Community Memoir, Touchstone Gallery, Washington DC
Art in Motion, Talbot Thrive Gallery, Easton, MD
The Art of Healing!, Harford Artists’ Association Gallery, Bel Air, MD
SuperImposed, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Hyattsville, MD
Year of the Horse, Laurel Municipal Center, Laurel, MD
Under the Surface: Where Contrast, Texture and Friction Meet, The Aryan Gallery at Pars Place, Vienna VA
Mr. Kennedy’s Cabinet of Wonder, Morris Memorial Gallery, Washington DC
Synthesis, Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC
2025– MFA Rotunda Show, Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC
Residencies, Awards, and Grants
2027– Dorland Mountain Arts Residency, Temecula, CA (Upcoming)
2026– Kolaj Institute, New Orleans, LA (Upcoming, December)
Sheepscot Arts Preserve, Sheepscot, Alna, ME
Peters Valley School of Craft, Sandystown, NJ
Wolpoff Award, American University, Washington DC
CAS Research Grant, American University, Washington DC
2025– Ruth-Meixner-Bird Scholarship, American University, Washington DC
Teaching/Workshops
2026– Instructor, Introduction to Paper Collage, Arlington Artist Alliance, Arlington, VA
Instructor, Layered Landscapes: Creating Place Through Paper Collage, Falls Church Arts Center, Falls Church, VA
Instructor, Layered Landscapes: Creating Place Through Paper Collage, Del Ray Artisans, Mt. Vernon, VA
Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Sculpture, American University, Washington DC
Instructor, Landscape Paper Collage Workshop, Atelier Collective, West Grove, PA
Instructor, Paper, Memory, and Material Class, Falls Church Arts Center, Falls Church, VA
Instructor, Paper Collage Workshop, Ballenger Creek Middle School, Frederick, MD
Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Printmaking, American University, Washington DC
Instructor, Paper Collage Workshop, Ballenger Creek Middle School, Frederick, MD
2025– Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Sculpture, American University, Washington DC
2024– Teaching Assistant for Color Theory, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD
Teaching Assistant for Advanced Painting, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD
Publications and Commissions
2026– Get Closer Magazine, April
The Ampersand Quarterly Literary Magazine, March
Suboart Magazine, March
2025– Book Cover, Hope and Healing in the Hebrew Bible: What ancient texts can teach modern readers by
Michael Huston
Private Collections
2026– American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC