Carolyn Jean Martin is a writer, educator, and artist born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute where she received an MA in the History and Theory of Contemporary Art and an MFA in painting.

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. Academic interests include African diasporic, North American, and European art and culture; feminist theory; African American history; modern and contemporary European philosophy; visual culture intersections of modern and contemporary politics and aesthetics. 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. In February 2023 she was elected as the Emerging Professional Director on the College Art Association Board of Directors.

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.


Photo by Sarah Deragon @ portraitstothepeople.com