BIOGRAPHY
Raised on a farm north of Lake Ontario, Doris Wasserman’s connection to the land and her experience of farm life are inescapably intertwined with her artwork and her work ethic. Her background is steeped in artmaking. Studies in arts administration and practice, absorbing knowledge from mentors, working behind the scenes in public and private galleries, and advocating for other artists all inform her creative practice.
Doris' paintings have been exhibited in Canada, the southeastern United States, Israel, the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC, as well as cultural centers in the place she calls home—the Nashville International Airport, Margaret Cunningim Women’s Center at Vanderbilt University, Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center, public library galleries, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University, and Oz Arts Nashville. She has received awards and honorariums from the National Arts Program, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, Metro Nashville Public Library, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Her work is held in the collections of the National Institutes of Health (NIH,) Vanderbilt University, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Baker Donelson Law Offices, the Metro Nashville Public Library Art Lending Library, as well as private collections in Australia, Italy, Israel, and Canada from Toronto to Vancouver, and in the U.S. from Washington DC, to Dallas, Chicago, Dayton, Fairfax, Seattle, Portland, Santa Barbara, St. Augustine, San Francisco, and Nashville,
STATEMENT
The influence of my lived experience is inseparable from the evolution of each painting. I translate my experience of being alive into layers of paint, transforming an emotion or a memory into something physical—each mark, a blessing. The deeper I go into the piece, the deeper the psychological investigation. As I refine each painting, I search for elements to carefully bring forth and release.
PROCESS
Doris Wasserman's painting process is a choreography between her and her materials; an exploration, a dance, a getting-acquainted. Washes of color and instinctive marks made with graphite, charcoal, brushes, and found objects are characteristic of her paintings. As she works, she builds layer upon layer of paint and line, creating a subliminal narrative within each painting, often scribbling notes to herself in the layers of the painting, much of which is disguised or lost as the painting is developed.
The language in her paintings reflects a deep fascination with symbolism, mark-making, and a sense that she is leaving a trace of herself behind. It is through clues like these that she connects with her viewers. A collector once shared that living with Doris' painting in her bedroom was comforting, “like sleeping under a dream.”
ROOTS
Raised in the farmhouse in which her father was born, on a farm that was in her family for over 100 years, Doris recalls drawing on her bedroom walls and carving into the horsehair plaster. She learned how to drive a tractor when she was twelve. She herded cattle, mucked stables, picked rocks, baled hay, and mended fences. Farm life was full of opportunities to tend sick or injured animals. She made shoebox dioramas for Kiddles and crocheted clothes for cats. She was the kid in school who was known as the artist. Classmates asked her to illustrate their book reports and gift drawings for birthdays.
EARLY WORK
Her early work was representational; studying anatomy and life drawing at the University of Toronto, working as a medical illustrator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and as an exhibits artist for Cumberland Science Museum. The marks she makes today in her abstract paintings are closely linked to her past.
INSPIRATION
Doris grew up near the site of the largest known collection of First Nations rock carvings in Canada, on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. The name passed down for these petroglyphs translates to “The Teaching Rocks,” and much like symbols of the past, she says her painting practice and the symbols within are created to inform and protect.
Doris is drawn to work of the ancients as well as artists such as Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Paterson Ewen, and Gershon Iskowitz—artists whose work holds energy that inspires her to continue to make her own marks.
SELECTED HONORS + AWARDS
Art of Healing Exposition. Juried. Sponsored by Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, and the WHO (World Health Organization.) This exhibition explores ways in which making art is a mechanism to foster healing and promote hope in our daily lives. Nashville, TN. 2021-22
Purchase Award. Metro Nashville Art Lending Library. Public Art Collection. Nashville Mayor's Office of Art + Culture. 2021
Under a Dream: Selected Works by Doris Wasserman. Invited. Oz Arts Nashville. Nashville, TN. 2020
NIH + Wondros. Portrait commissioned by Wondros and National Institutes of Health for 'All of Us' campaign. One of 7 artists in the United States invited to create a portrait for launch of national research initiative. Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Tacoma, Birmingham, Washington DC. 2018
Psalms: Art Beyond Borders. Juried. International traveling. Purchase Award. Israel and southeastern US. 2016-2017
Flying Solo Exhibition: "My Recent Travels." Juried. Honorarium. Nashville International Airport. 2016-17
Winning Talk presented to Wichita Chamber of Commerce. Invited by Arts + Business Council of Greater Nashville. Hosted by Belmont University. Nashville, TN. 2016
Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training. Juried. Winner, top award. Cash prize. Offered by Arts + Business Council of Greater Nashville. Sponsors: Chamber of Commerce, Entrepreneur Center, Metro Arts Commission, Mayor's Office of Economic + Community Development, Regions Bank, Southwest Airlines. Nashville, TN. 2015
Portrait of the Artist. Invited. Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gallery. Nashville, TN. 2014
National Arts Program. Juried. Winner, "Best of Show." Cash prize. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Nashville, TN. 2011
Teacup as Metaphor. Juried. Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center. Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN. 2011
Drawing on 80 Years of Illustration. Invited. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Nashville, TN. 2008
Art for the Parks. Juried. Grassmere Wildlife Park. Nashville, TN. 1991
COLLECTIONS
National Institutes of Health
Vanderbilt University Art Collection
Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum Collection
Baker Donelson Law Offices
Metro Nashville Art Lending Library
Private Collections in Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Dayton, Fairfax, Melbourne, Seattle, Portland, Santa Barbara, St. Augustine, San Francisco, Nashville, Milan, Washington DC, and Dallas.
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
Board President Art & Soul Nashville
Donate artwork to fundraisers including Gilda's Club of Nashville, Music & Masterpieces, Art & Soul Nashville, Turnip Green Creative Reuse
T1D Painting Workshops Orchestrate and lead art-making workshops for children with T1D in support of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Children's painted ceramic plates earned highest bids in live auction at annual JDRF Promise Gala for 5 years.
Annual JDRF One Walk Organize, provide supplies, and deliver children's activities at Vanderbilt tent
Paint Murals for Julia Green School and Akiva Community Day School
Newsletter Editor, Designer for Akiva Community Day School and Sherith Israel
Co-curator "Bobby Vantrease: A Creative Life" Exhibition
Mentor elementary school students
Care for newborns in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
EDUCATION
CREATIVE ARTS ADMINISTRATION. Sir Sandford Fleming College. Peterborough, ON, CA
Art History; Art Conservation Techniques; Museum, Gallery, Music and Theatre Administration; Painting; Communications; Small Business Management; Advertising and Display; Marketing; Visual Communications + Design; Photography; Printmaking; Children’s Literature; Exhibitions Management, Exhibitions Workshop
INVITED PARTICIPANT. Canadian Conference of the Arts, a national conversation exploring the value of post-secondary education focused on culture and the arts. Organized by the Canada Council.
INTERNSHIP. Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection of Contemporary Canadian Art and Inuit Art. Toronto, ON
INTERNSHIP. Canadian Opera Company, Marketing Department. Toronto, ON
PAID INTERNSHIP. Studio and Gallery Assistant to Edwin Matthews. Matthews apprenticed with AJ Casson of the Group of Seven. Gallery on the Lake. Buckhorn, ON
STUDIO ASSISTANT. Assisted working artist / professor at University of Toronto. Toronto, ON
CREATIVE ARTS DISCOVERY + PRACTICE AND YEARLONG. Art & Soul Nashville. Nashville, TN
Raised on a farm north of Lake Ontario, Doris Wasserman’s connection to the land and her experience of farm life are inescapably intertwined with her artwork and her work ethic. Her background is steeped in artmaking. Studies in arts administration and practice, absorbing knowledge from mentors, working behind the scenes in public and private galleries, and advocating for other artists all inform her creative practice.
Doris' paintings have been exhibited in Canada, the southeastern United States, Israel, the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC, as well as cultural centers in the place she calls home—the Nashville International Airport, Margaret Cunningim Women’s Center at Vanderbilt University, Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center, public library galleries, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University, and Oz Arts Nashville. She has received awards and honorariums from the National Arts Program, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, Metro Nashville Public Library, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Her work is held in the collections of the National Institutes of Health (NIH,) Vanderbilt University, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Baker Donelson Law Offices, the Metro Nashville Public Library Art Lending Library, as well as private collections in Australia, Italy, Israel, and Canada from Toronto to Vancouver, and in the U.S. from Washington DC, to Dallas, Chicago, Dayton, Fairfax, Seattle, Portland, Santa Barbara, St. Augustine, San Francisco, and Nashville,
STATEMENT
The influence of my lived experience is inseparable from the evolution of each painting. I translate my experience of being alive into layers of paint, transforming an emotion or a memory into something physical—each mark, a blessing. The deeper I go into the piece, the deeper the psychological investigation. As I refine each painting, I search for elements to carefully bring forth and release.
PROCESS
Doris Wasserman's painting process is a choreography between her and her materials; an exploration, a dance, a getting-acquainted. Washes of color and instinctive marks made with graphite, charcoal, brushes, and found objects are characteristic of her paintings. As she works, she builds layer upon layer of paint and line, creating a subliminal narrative within each painting, often scribbling notes to herself in the layers of the painting, much of which is disguised or lost as the painting is developed.
The language in her paintings reflects a deep fascination with symbolism, mark-making, and a sense that she is leaving a trace of herself behind. It is through clues like these that she connects with her viewers. A collector once shared that living with Doris' painting in her bedroom was comforting, “like sleeping under a dream.”
ROOTS
Raised in the farmhouse in which her father was born, on a farm that was in her family for over 100 years, Doris recalls drawing on her bedroom walls and carving into the horsehair plaster. She learned how to drive a tractor when she was twelve. She herded cattle, mucked stables, picked rocks, baled hay, and mended fences. Farm life was full of opportunities to tend sick or injured animals. She made shoebox dioramas for Kiddles and crocheted clothes for cats. She was the kid in school who was known as the artist. Classmates asked her to illustrate their book reports and gift drawings for birthdays.
EARLY WORK
Her early work was representational; studying anatomy and life drawing at the University of Toronto, working as a medical illustrator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and as an exhibits artist for Cumberland Science Museum. The marks she makes today in her abstract paintings are closely linked to her past.
INSPIRATION
Doris grew up near the site of the largest known collection of First Nations rock carvings in Canada, on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. The name passed down for these petroglyphs translates to “The Teaching Rocks,” and much like symbols of the past, she says her painting practice and the symbols within are created to inform and protect.
Doris is drawn to work of the ancients as well as artists such as Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Paterson Ewen, and Gershon Iskowitz—artists whose work holds energy that inspires her to continue to make her own marks.
SELECTED HONORS + AWARDS
Art of Healing Exposition. Juried. Sponsored by Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, and the WHO (World Health Organization.) This exhibition explores ways in which making art is a mechanism to foster healing and promote hope in our daily lives. Nashville, TN. 2021-22
Purchase Award. Metro Nashville Art Lending Library. Public Art Collection. Nashville Mayor's Office of Art + Culture. 2021
Under a Dream: Selected Works by Doris Wasserman. Invited. Oz Arts Nashville. Nashville, TN. 2020
NIH + Wondros. Portrait commissioned by Wondros and National Institutes of Health for 'All of Us' campaign. One of 7 artists in the United States invited to create a portrait for launch of national research initiative. Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Tacoma, Birmingham, Washington DC. 2018
Psalms: Art Beyond Borders. Juried. International traveling. Purchase Award. Israel and southeastern US. 2016-2017
Flying Solo Exhibition: "My Recent Travels." Juried. Honorarium. Nashville International Airport. 2016-17
Winning Talk presented to Wichita Chamber of Commerce. Invited by Arts + Business Council of Greater Nashville. Hosted by Belmont University. Nashville, TN. 2016
Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training. Juried. Winner, top award. Cash prize. Offered by Arts + Business Council of Greater Nashville. Sponsors: Chamber of Commerce, Entrepreneur Center, Metro Arts Commission, Mayor's Office of Economic + Community Development, Regions Bank, Southwest Airlines. Nashville, TN. 2015
Portrait of the Artist. Invited. Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gallery. Nashville, TN. 2014
National Arts Program. Juried. Winner, "Best of Show." Cash prize. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Nashville, TN. 2011
Teacup as Metaphor. Juried. Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center. Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN. 2011
Drawing on 80 Years of Illustration. Invited. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Nashville, TN. 2008
Art for the Parks. Juried. Grassmere Wildlife Park. Nashville, TN. 1991
COLLECTIONS
National Institutes of Health
Vanderbilt University Art Collection
Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum Collection
Baker Donelson Law Offices
Metro Nashville Art Lending Library
Private Collections in Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Dayton, Fairfax, Melbourne, Seattle, Portland, Santa Barbara, St. Augustine, San Francisco, Nashville, Milan, Washington DC, and Dallas.
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
Board President Art & Soul Nashville
Donate artwork to fundraisers including Gilda's Club of Nashville, Music & Masterpieces, Art & Soul Nashville, Turnip Green Creative Reuse
T1D Painting Workshops Orchestrate and lead art-making workshops for children with T1D in support of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Children's painted ceramic plates earned highest bids in live auction at annual JDRF Promise Gala for 5 years.
Annual JDRF One Walk Organize, provide supplies, and deliver children's activities at Vanderbilt tent
Paint Murals for Julia Green School and Akiva Community Day School
Newsletter Editor, Designer for Akiva Community Day School and Sherith Israel
Co-curator "Bobby Vantrease: A Creative Life" Exhibition
Mentor elementary school students
Care for newborns in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
EDUCATION
CREATIVE ARTS ADMINISTRATION. Sir Sandford Fleming College. Peterborough, ON, CA
Art History; Art Conservation Techniques; Museum, Gallery, Music and Theatre Administration; Painting; Communications; Small Business Management; Advertising and Display; Marketing; Visual Communications + Design; Photography; Printmaking; Children’s Literature; Exhibitions Management, Exhibitions Workshop
INVITED PARTICIPANT. Canadian Conference of the Arts, a national conversation exploring the value of post-secondary education focused on culture and the arts. Organized by the Canada Council.
INTERNSHIP. Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection of Contemporary Canadian Art and Inuit Art. Toronto, ON
INTERNSHIP. Canadian Opera Company, Marketing Department. Toronto, ON
PAID INTERNSHIP. Studio and Gallery Assistant to Edwin Matthews. Matthews apprenticed with AJ Casson of the Group of Seven. Gallery on the Lake. Buckhorn, ON
STUDIO ASSISTANT. Assisted working artist / professor at University of Toronto. Toronto, ON
CREATIVE ARTS DISCOVERY + PRACTICE AND YEARLONG. Art & Soul Nashville. Nashville, TN
