Amanda Marie Eilis King is a visual artist through exploring drawing, painting, printmaking, film photography, and abandoned buildings. She was born in New York and obtained her Bachelors of Science locally at Skidmore College for Studio Art & Biology, and then earned her Post-Baccalaureate degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art. A majority of her work during her undergraduate and post-bacc periods encompass her experience of the death of her father in his battle against a rare form of cancer, and the evolution of her home life as a single child throughout this ordeal. Because he opted for radiation injections as a treatment for his cancer, her frequent use of radiation masks and suits express the dilemmas within that choice. In addition, she chose to create work that includes actual images based on photographs from her childhood, because of her helplessness, inferior, and innate connection to this experience. In 2015, she was finally able to fulfill a dream of gaining access to visit Chernobyl and Pripyat to further her research in the varying connotations of the effects of radiation. She's had three solo shows at Next Gallery during her recent time living in Denver, including: Residing in Our Epitaph (2014), The Kyiv Paintings (2015), and One More Thing (2016). She also owns a C&P letterpress, which she uses to create custom invitation and announcement work.
She is a licensed embalmer & funeral director in both Missouri and Connecticut, having completed her apprenticeship under Vernie R Fountain, as well as reconstruction training. She has also earned her designation as CFSP. Currently, she resides in CT and worked as the Care Team/Prep Room Manager for Carmon Community Funeral Homes for two years before moving to southern CT, where she now is an Embalmer & Funeral Director for Bailey Funeral Homes & the Cremation Society of New England. She also greatly enjoys traveling to speak on behalf of improved embalming/restorative/cosmetic approaches for those within the mortuary field.
She also operates an Etsy page to sell her work & recent projects on: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AMEKgraphics