DVAA Member since 2024

Celeste Mann

About:

Celeste Mann began working in soft pastel in 2015 and specializes in drawing media and photography. A photographer since she was 9 years old, her photos focus on nature and landscapes, while she continues to study botanical, portrait and figure drawing. Since 2020 she has be is originally from New York City but has lived in Philadelphia since 2007. She travels to Spain and Latin American whenever possible, which has influenced her most recent artwork. Recently, she began to explore watercolors and acrylics and has experience with cardboard bookmaking in the "cartonera" tradition which originated in Argentina.

Artist Statement:

I delight in depicting the world around me, especially nature, landscape and architecture. I have been a mostly self-taught photographer since I was 9 years old, when I was gifted a simple camera, and I took my first photography class with adults and teens. I won third prize with a black and white photo of a local playground.

Images of people intrigue me too, and I mostly explore them through drawing and painting. My favorite media are soft pastel and charcoal. Recently I began painting with watercolor, at first botanical subjects, and have used acrylics on cardboard. I have been influenced by European and American art, including Velasquez, Zurbarán, and Goya from Spain, Cezanne, Degas, the Mexican muralists, Candido Portinari from Brazil, as well as John Singer Sargent, Cecilia Beaux and Mary Cassatt.

I have exhibited at DaVinci Artist Alliance as well as in Continuing Education exhibitions at PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts). I continue working on Más allá de los azulejos: Al-Ándalus en fotografía y pastel (Beyond the Tiles: Al-Ándalus in Photography and Pastel) and my travel sketchbook which includes images from recent trips to Spain and Guatemala.