Aunna Moriarty is a lens-based artist who works with alternative process and digital photography, bookmaking, performance, set design, and video art. Visually deciphering spatial and bodily scripts, and the variation in our behavioral and mental processing in public and private spheres is the central theme of her research. What are the individual and collective experiences that inform our perception of certain spaces? Furthermore, how does this perception inform our perception of others? She examines these questions through a therapeutic lens and frequently performs in her work. As an extension of “Parts Work,” a method that fractures the self into different parts —the dreamer, the inner child, partner, educator, the part experiencing mania or depression— Moriarty constructs sets to perform in and disguises herself with costumes and props to investigate inner realities in contrast to the external world. She asks, how does my body and mind react to this versus that and who is allowed to see those reactions? While performance aids in unpacking inner realities, she approaches the physical photograph as a container. Much like a house, Moriarty often employs building materials such as bricks, wood, and concrete to emphasize the tactile nature of our experiences. While we traverse the day-to-day internally and externally, she asks, what are the things we carry and what do we bring home with us? Moriarty was born and raised in Washington state and sees herself as a devoted Pacific Northwesterner. She received her BFA in Photography from Seattle University in 2019 and her MFA in Arts Practices from University of Colorado Boulder in 2024, where she was a Lead Graduate Teaching Fellow. She is a passionate arts educator and is currently teaching at Seattle University, University of Colorado Boulder, and Photographic Center Northwest. Moriarty’s work has been exhibited across the country including Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, OR, Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, MO, Center for Fine Art Photography in Loveland, CO, Make.Shift Art Space in Bellingham, WA, Daniels & Fisher Clocktower in Denver, CO, and University of Colorado Art Museum. She has a commercial background in fashion photography and continues to work with independent designers in the greater Seattle area. Her fashion photography has been featured internationally in Féroce Magazine (UK), Mordant Magazine (UK), Flawless Magazine (Dublin, Ireland), Scorpio Jin Magazine (Miami), and locally in Section 8 Magazine.