Carolyn Jean Martin is an artist and educator. Her writing practice interrogates the impact of philosophy and aesthetic traditions on the construction of race and identity, with an emphasis on articulations of Blackness in the Western visual field. Carolyn has presented her research at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, UC Berkeley, Georgia Southern University and the College Art Association, among other venues.

As a visual artist Carolyn's multi-media practice explores how identity is constructed and understood within the social lenses of nationality, ethnicity and race, and how these are sustained and/or transformed through the movements of diaspora. Her artwork has appeared in solo and group exhibitions in China, Canada, and various locations in the United States.

Carolyn received an MFA in painting and an MA in the History and Theory of Contemporary Art from the San Francisco Art Institute. She completed her PhD in Visual Arts: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts as a David Driskell Fellow and the 2024 Ted Coons Dissertation Prize recipient.

She currently serves as an Emerging Professional Board Member on the College Art Association Board of Directors.


Photo by Sarah Deragon @ portraitstothepeople.com