MORGAN SERRENO EAST

ARTIST BIO

Morgan is an oil painter based in North Charleston, South Carolina. Born in Connecticut and raised in North Carolina, she developed an early interest in visual storytelling after purchasing her first digital camera in high school. She became drawn to photographing abandoned buildings, overgrown spaces, landscapes encountered during travel, and candid portraits of people. These images later served as reference and inspiration for her drawings and paintings. From 2002 to 2006, Morgan attended Clemson University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Communications with a minor in Advertising. She worked for Amazon’s self-publishing division from 2009 to 2022, during which time she began to recognize illustration and painting as a viable artistic path. In 2018 and 2019, she completed an online illustration program through Visual Arts Passage and attended the Illustration Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, where mentorship encouraged her transition toward fine art.

Her current body of work includes oil, watercolor, and ink paintings. Following her father’s dementia diagnosis in 2017 and his death in 2022, her practice shifted away from a photojournalistic approach toward more introspective and emotionally layered imagery. This evolution reflects a desire to process grief while offering viewers space for reflection and healing.

Morgan continues to experiment with materials and techniques, exploring figurative work, landscapes, and more conceptual relationships between the human form and nature. In 2023, her painting Onyx was selected for the Black + White exhibition at Metamorphosis Gallery in Perth, Australia. In 2025, her painting Inhale received Best in Show at the Beyond the Surface group exhibition at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina. She currently lives in the Park Circle neighborhood with her husband and their newly rescued dog, Dash.


ARTIST STATEMENT

Humans continually seek comfort and healing in nature, finding refuge in its simplicity and beauty. Whether floating down rivers, swimming in the ocean, or hiking through the wilderness, these natural interactions form the core of our mental well-being, offering a primal form of therapy that restores balance and sanctuary. Studies have shown that exposure to nature enhances focus, lowers stress, elevates mood, and fosters empathy. As our dependence on technology grows, our connection to the natural world fades, making this interaction more essential than ever.

Water has consistently served as a central theme in my artistic process, embodying my deep appreciation for this element that is both gentle and powerful. The organic lines of the female form, echoing the fluidity and movement found in water, inspire much of my latest work. My paintings often depict moments of tranquility in natural settings, creating a visual narrative that explores how these encounters help us overcome the obstacles, insecurities, and daily struggles of human existence.

My work inhabits the space between the familiar and the unexplored, merging realism with expressive mark-making. I photograph models in pools, inside a studio, or out in wooded environments, then translate these references using silicone brushes, brayer rollers, spray bottles, and palette knives. These tools introduce the movement and unpredictability of water and the natural world.