Victoria Ralston
Bio
A native of Rhode Island, Tori moved to North Carolina where she studied Psychology and Fine Arts at UNC-CH, later working as a therapeutic arts specialist and arts educator for over 20 years. Tori has been teaching in the Art Studies Program, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at NC State University since 2011. In addition to her teaching, she has actively exhibited her two-dimensional work, mixed media installations, and object performances. Tori has shown her work at the Walker Art Center; Lincoln Center; The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York; The Minneapolis Art Institute; The Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh; Hanes Art Center at UNC Chapel Hill; Meredith College; Man Bites Dog Theater in Durham; Duke University Theater; Yale University Theater.
Website
Projects
*The Body in the Picture, the Projection of Self *Neural Pruning and the Meditative Practice of Rethought *Harvesting Pomegranate Dreams *Is It Okay for Me to Be Here, Fables of the Contemporary South *Body Memory *My Mother’s Voice *Not Me Objects
Education
MFA University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
B.A. Psychology University of North Carolina
Area(s) of Expertise
“Through my work, I am interested in exploring the construction of self by providing experiences that allow the viewer to project their constructed personal and cultural shadow identity, including memory, desire, thought pathways, emotions, and assumptions onto images, objects, space and personal narrative. I approach this work through a number of media; abstract puppetry performance, kinetic sculpture, large-scale interactive installations, embedded encaustic works of neural pathways, experimental film, and soundscapes.” Tori is the faculty representative for the visual arts concentration in Arts Studies, faculty advisor for the Arts Studies art club, and student internships advisor, as well as the marketing coordinator for Interdisciplinary Studies. Tori teaches courses at NC State University in Technology and the Arts, Intermedia Arts, The Art and History of Puppetry, Sculpture with Diverse Materials, and The Fine Art of Craft.