J.M. Culver grew up in North Carolina before moving to Minnesota. She received a BFA in Painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2006.
Her work is punctuated with vivid imagery that contrasts with more obscure backgrounds. Layers of intense marks and erasures are juxtaposed against hazy atmospheric smudges of charcoal and veils of acrylic on paper. Her process is intended to be visible.
Culver’s work investigates allegories and relationships. ‘Memories from my childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina, have become the foundation for the development of my visual language—images of little girls, distressed men, tumbling kittens, birds, and broken chairs.’
Her work has been exhibited extensively in Minneapolis, where she facilitates regular life drawing classes at Cult Status Gallery and chairs the Board of Directors of SSCA Gallery.