Change of Climate
Photo collage, edition of 7
38h x 51w in.
Corinne Geertsen creates digitally assembled images that combine historical photographs, contemporary imagery, and elements from painting to form surreal visual narratives. Drawing from an extensive archive—including Civil War–era and Victorian studio portraits, family photographs, and pictures she has taken herself—she constructs scenes where humans, animals, and objects interact in unexpected and often humorous ways.
Geertsen grew up on the plains of Montana, where vast landscapes and open skies continue to influence the outdoor settings of her work. The daughter of a psychologist, she was fascinated by the illustrated picture plates used in psychological testing—images designed to provoke storytelling. “I move easily between story and image and back again as I work,” she has said. “I live for a psychological twist.”
Animals frequently appear in her compositions as catalysts within these narratives. Her connection to animals began early—at seven years old she once led a wandering horse home to keep it safe—and continues today through her photography of wildlife. In her images, animals often act as unexpected agents of change.
Geertsen studied drawing and painting at Brigham Young University, receiving both a B.A. and an M.F.A. Decades later, while taking a Photoshop course to restore family photographs, she began to see her ancestors as characters in elaborate visual dramas. “It was obvious Aunt Irma would look better with a rhinoceros,” she recalls. “It was off to the races.” Working digitally, she says, felt like discovering “the other half of the map.”
Her works are printed in small editions using archival pigment inks.
Geertsen lives and works in Mesa, Arizona.
EDUCATION
1978 MFA, Brigham Young University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Corinne Geertsen, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
2022 Corinne Geertsen, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
2021 Corinne Geertsen, Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT
2018 Corinne Geertsen, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2016 The Footnote Chronicles, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa AZ
History: What Happens When You’re Not Looking, Tempe History Museum, Tempe AZ
2015 Corinne Geertsen, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
2014 Beyond Memory, Springville Museum of Art, Springville UT
2012 Freudian Trip, Kimball Art Center, Park City UT
Corinne Geertsen, Appaloosa Library, Scottsdale AZ
Corinne Geertsen, Scottsdale Public Arts, Scottsdale AZ
2011 Psychological Sophistication and Quirk, Vision Gallery, Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler AZ
Parlor Games, After Hours Gallery, Phoenix AZ
2010 Psychological Sightseeing, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa AZ
Geertsen at the Olney, Cathedral Center for the Arts, Phoenix AZ
Corinne Geertsen, Arizona State University Polytechnic, Mesa AZ
Corinne Geertsen, Mesa Community College, Mesa AZ
2009 Psychological Images of Sophistication and Quirk, @Central Gallery, Phoenix Burton Barr Public Library, Phoenix AZ
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Materializing Mormonism, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa AZ
Our Fragile Ecosystem, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
Birds in Art 2024, Woodson Art Museum, Wassau WI
2023 Memory, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe AZ
28th Arts North International, 2nd place, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Minneapolis MN
Our Fragile Ecosystem, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
She, Art Fluent
Animalia, Art Fluent
2022 Stranger Things, Herberger Theater, Phoenix, AZ
2021 Of Flora & Fauna, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
Salmagundi Photography Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
Our Global Climate Emergency, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2020 Pop Femme Sugar Coated Strange, Pop Santa Fe NM
AZ Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson AZ
AZ Biennial Artists, Gebert Contemporary, Scottsdale AZ
Climate Crisis, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
The New Vanguard,Keep Contemporary, Santa Fe NM
Leaving Eden,Dallas, Texas
2019 Some Women, Salt Lake City UT
Making Her Mark: Art by Women, Meyer Gallery, Park City UT
Myths, Maps and Legends, Tempe, AZ
2018 Music Box III, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY
Figurative Show, Gebert Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ
Vanitas,Haven Gallery, Northport, NY
Le Rêve,Haven Gallery, Northport, NY
Artful Play, idea Museum, Mesa, AZ
Far Out!, idea Museum, Mesa, AZ
We Believe, Shemer Museum, Phoenix
Journeys: Monomyth and Transformation, Springville Art Museum, Springville Utah
2017 Artifacts, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
Small Works, Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland WA
2016 50 Years of Collecting, Art Gallery at Mesa Community College, Mesa AZ
Contemporary Showcase, Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland WA
Meyer Gallery Photo Focus, Park City UT
FantaSea, i.d.e.a Museum, Mesa AZ
2014 Winter Show, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City UT
Art Stroll, Meyer Gallery, Park City UT
Summer Artwalk, Gebert Contemporary, Scottsdale AZ
2013 Works on Paper, Gebert Contemporary, Scottsdale AZ
Weather or Not, Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa AZ
New Work by Corinne Geertsen, Gebert Contemporary, Scottsdale AZ
2012 Family Matters, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe
Extreme Pets, i.d.e.a Museum, Mesa AZ
2011 20 Questions, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe AZ
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Arizona State University Polytechnic
BK Medical, Denmark
City of Tempe
City of Phoenix, College Depot
i.d.e.a. Museum, Mesa AZ
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
Mesa Community College Art Gallery
Scottsdale Public Art
Springville Museum of Art
Tempe History Museum
COMMISSIONED WORKS
2025 Two works for Delta Sky Lounge in Salt Lake City UT
2023 Edition of 20 prints for donor gifts, Center for Latter Day Saints Arts, New York NY
2020 La Débauche, Angoulême, France – labels for craft beer
2016 Book cover - Pigs When They Straddle the Air, by Julie Nichols
2016 City of Tempe’s Time Capsule
2012 City of Tempe commissioned a work sourcing Tempe historical photos
BIBLIOGRAPHY
High Country News. Full page illustration. December 2024, pg. 45
Art Fluent. Curator’s choice 2024
Exponent II. Cover (image), pg. 23 (image). Pg. 37 (image). Summer 2022
15 bytes. Pyle, Rebecca. "With a Wave of Her Digital Want Corinne Geertsen Animates a Fading World with Fantasy." September 2021.
The South Hampton Literary Review. Cover and 8 images throughout. Winter/Spring 2017.
Phoenix Magazine. Kimbel-Sannit, Arren. “Studio Snapshot: Corinne Geertsen.” pg. 37 (image). September 2016.
Phoenix New Times. Bartkowski, Becky. “Mesa Artist Corinne Geertsen on Why Mistakes are the Best Teachers.” August 2016.
Catalyst. Cover. July 2015.
15 Bytes. Clark, Ehren. “The Truthful Surreal.” Pg. 7. February 2015.
Daily Herald. Foote, Amber. (Images throughout). October 2014.
Exponent II. Cover (image), pg. 10 (image), pg. 11 (image). Spring 2013.
Exponent II. Hickmen, Aimee. "Carnival Rides and Mormon Feminism." (image). April 5, 2013.
Phoenix Magazine. Tropiano, Dolores. “Artist of the Month Corinne Geertsen.” pg. 44 (image). June 2012.
Java Magazine. Young, L Amy. “The Mysteries of Geertsen’s World.” Pg. 18 (images). Jan 2012.
Phoenix New Times. Gerbis, Nicholas. “Freudian Hip.” pg. 25 (image). January 27, 2011.
Java Magazine. Andrews, Scott. “Corinne Geertsen at Mesa Contemporary Arts.” pg. 16 (image), 17 (image). January 2011.
College Times. Lipka, Nate. “Life is But a Dream.” pg.10 (image). November 2011.
East Valley Tribune. Zajac, Mandy. “Mind Trip.” pg. 3 (image), pg. 25 (images). December 19, 2010.
Phoenix New Times. Holden, Wynter. “Community Collage.“ pg. 26 (image). December 23, 2009.
ARTIST TALKS, LECTURES AND WRITING
2016 Spirit of the Senses “Narrative Art. But wait, there’s MORE!” Images throughout. April 16, 2016
Artist Talk, The Footnote Chronicles, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa AZ
Artist Talk, History: What Happens When You’re Not Looking, Tempe History Museum, Tempe AZ
Artist Talk, Ikeda Theater, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa AZ
2014 Artist Talk, Beyond Memory, Springville Museum of Art, Springville UT
2013 Contemporary Forum, Studio Tour and lecture, Mesa AZ
2011 Artist Talk, Psychological Sophistication and Quirk, Vision Gallery, Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler AZ
2010 Artist Talk, The Footnote Chronicles, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa AZ
