Artist Biography

Tonya Dee McDaniel was born and raised in Guam since 1999. Growing up in the age of rapid technological advancement and consumerism, Tonya Dee has been highly fascinated by the images of “what life is supposed be like” according to the screen. She took up drawing at a young age as to escape her at-times-stressful reality. Making art would become a life-long passion for her.

While studying towards a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the University of Guam, Tonya Dee was drawn to the surrealistic imaginary of collage. Though Tonya Dee formally studied and practiced the mediums of ink, charcoal, and printmaking; with collage she has been free to play with the imagination. Much of her art addresses themes of love, attraction, family, and individual strength and emotion. Through the accessibility of collage and mixed media art, she wants to convey the message that anyone could create new meaning in their lives and come to understand themselves.

As a student, Tonya Dee showcased the 2019 and 2020 Annual Research Conference Exhibitions at the ISLA Center for the Arts, has been published in the UOG Press’s creative journals (Storyboard 18: Sustainable Islands and Storyboard 19: Oceania Rising), and participated in the Remote Contact printmaking symposium’s The Spaces Between portfolio exchange.

Tonya Dee currently resides in Sinajana, Guam where she keeps a growing collection of old magazines and picture books.

Education

BA in Fine Arts and Minor in English Literature | University of Guam, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences | 2017 - 2021

Awards

"Best in Drawing" Annual UOG Undergraduate Exhibition, 2019
"Best in Mixed Media" Annual UOG Undergraduate Exhibition, May 2020
"Best in Watercolor" Annual UOG Undergraduate Exhibition, May 2021

Publications and Exhibitions

Contributor for Storyboard 18: Sustainable Islands, UOG Press, 2019
Annual Research Conference Exhibition, ISLA Center for the Arts University of Guam, 2019
Contributor for Storyboard 19: Oceania Rising, UOG Press, 2020
Annual Research Conference Exhibition, ISLA Center for the Arts University of Guam, 2020
"Creative Hands" Exhibition 2020 (virtual showcase), ISLA Center for the Arts, 2020
Annual Research Conference Exhibition, ISLA Center for the Arts University of Guam, 2021
"The Space Between" Exchange Portfolio and Exhibit, University of Tennessee School of Art's Remote Contact printmaking symposium, 2021
"Imbentibu Famalao'an I" Group Exhibition, Castro Art Gallery, June 2021
Book cover artist for Dry Nights by Pep Borja, UOG Press, September 2021
"Our Place, Our Time, Our Resilience" Group Exhibition, CAHA, October 2021
"Birds in Paradise" Group Exhibition, Lees-Reyes Art Gallery, February 2022
"Convalescence" Senior Exhibition, ISLA Center for the Arts University of Guam, May 2022
"Imbentibu Famalao'an II" Group Exhibition, Lees Reyes Art Gallery, June 2022
"Flower Power!" Group Exhibition, Lees Reyes Art Gallery, September 2022
"Alternate Realities" Group Exhibition, Lees Reyes Art Gallery, October 2022
"Creative Hands: Selected Works by Pacific Arts" ISLA Center for the Arts, December 2022
"Pictures That Tell A Story" Group Exhibition, Lees Reyes Art Gallery & UOG Press, December 2022
"Imbentibu Famalao'an III" Group Exhibition, Lees Reyes Art Gallery, June 2023