Corey (American b. Reston, VA 1990) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at Pilchuck Glass School (WA), The Pittsburgh Glass Center (PA), Bruket (Bodø, NO), Alfred University (NY), as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts (NC). He has exhibited work at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (CA), The Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh (NC), and has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Art and Design (NY), The Boston Museum of Fine Art (MA), and The Chrysler Museum of Art (VA).
Pemberton currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he splits his time between the nonprofit arts organization Crafting the Future, painting, and his glass practice. He strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.
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My work explores portraiture as a form of world-building. Through paintings, sculptures, and objects, I create intimate portraits of people of color and others whose bodies have historically existed outside the bounds of traditional portraiture, representing them as whole, complex individuals. Rather than depicting moments of spectacle or trauma, I focus on quiet scenes of joy, rest, reflection, and everyday life—offering a counterpoint to the ways marginalized people have often been represented throughout art history.
The spaces my subjects inhabit are as important as the figures themselves. Furniture, vessels, textiles, patterns, and everyday objects carry memory, reveal values, and tell stories that extend beyond the body. By inviting viewers into these carefully constructed environments, I hope to create moments of recognition and familiarity. Relatability has long been a privilege afforded to the majority; creating opportunities for viewers to see themselves in lives different from their own is, for me, an act of empathy and equity.
Working with handmade paper, found textiles, blown and kiln-formed glass, painting, collage, and other materials, I build layered compositions that reflect the richness and complexity of lived experience. Each material contributes its own history and language, mirroring the accumulated narratives that shape identity.
Although portraiture often serves as the point of entry, my practice extends beyond the image. I aspire for the sculptural and functional objects I create to carry the same sense of presence and belonging as the people they accompany. They are not merely decorative forms, but participants in a larger conversation about lineage, place, and community. Together, these works ask viewers to slow down, look closely, and consider the relationships between people, the objects they cherish, and the worlds they build around themselves. In a time marked by division, I see this practice of connection—through art, story, and shared humanity—as the central purpose of my work.