“Harrison Wayne’s configuration of poetic scores, collective action, time-based sculpture and chemistry thoughtfully shifts perspectives on art as object and event.” – juror Denise Ryner, Andrea B. Laporte Curator, ICA Philadelphia

“Ayana’s paintings participate in the tradition of epic narrative painting through grand scale and compelling tableaux, and she brings to that context the intimacy of personal experiences and a wry symbolic sensibility.” – Sarah Higgins, Director, Art Papers

Harrison Wayne (b. 1997) is an artist born and raised in Georgia. Harrison draws on his
background as an industrial chemist and his lifelong passion for poetry to inform an approach that enmeshes analytical forms and iterative experimentation with an obsessive focus on the private inner workings of the heart. Across durational chemical sculptures, collaborative ventures, and obtuse personal performances, Harrison works within self-imposed, open-ended systems of rules and private rituals. Harping over time on selected materials and gestures for their elemental power as poetic analogues, disparate visual forms are treated as branches of an expansive, mercurial writing practice.

Harrison’s work has been exhibited both locally and nationally within institutional bodies, while concurrently his practice often manifests itself in alternative contexts outside of traditional exhibition frameworks. Harrison has been the recipient of residencies at Stove Works (Chattanooga, TN) and the Hambidge Center (Rabun Gap, GA), and in Spring 2025 he was the recipient of a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (New York, NY). As a writer, Harrison has published several books of poetry and has written for Burnaway, Institute 193, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.