Polly purvis

Polly Purvis has been working in traditional and alternative forms of photography for over three decades. Her spare, monochromatic images often include metaphorical and surreal elements. Her work includes three-dimensional assemblage, collage and installation art, and she often combines her photographs with industrial and salvaged metals and various found objects.

Polly’s work is held in numerous public collections including The National Archives in Washington D.C., The British Museum, Finland’s Tampere and Hiekka Art Museums, and the National Museum of the Netherlands. She has exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally.

She has been awarded the City of Kent Purchase Award, the National Organization of Women Artists Blum Award, and the International Biennial Contemporary Medal Innovation Award. Her photographs are included in Raven Chronicles and appear in Seattle’s Poets and Photographers: A Millennium Reflection (Univ. of Washington Press).

Polly studied at Bard College, Photographic Center Northwest and Pratt Fine Arts Center. She holds a BA from Temple University and MA from State University of New York.