Artist Biography
Arin Rockwell is a contemporary artist from Northern Pennsylvania who earned her BFA at Pennwest University. Rockwell practices a variety of art media, such as drawing, sewing, printmaking and photography, however she devotes most of her attention and effort to oil painting. She has gained recognition from her narrative, interpretive pieces, and her realistic, yet abstracted, portrait paintings.
Rockwell’s art career began in high school as she started completing commissions and participated in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for the first time in 2019. She gained regional recognition after earning the American Visions Award and a Gold Key Award for her high school senior portfolio titled “The Circus of Life.” Another piece from this portfolio, Pressure to Perform, was awarded Best of Show at the Master & Grasshopper Exhibition in Mansfield University. Following these achievements, she received the Hample Family Art Scholarship Award in 2022, which inspired her to pursue higher education in the arts.
In 2025, she had her first solo exhibition in Waldo Bates Student Art Gallery at Pennwest Edinboro, titled “Contrast Life,” where she showed 21 original works.
Before graduating in 2026, she was chosen as a finalist for the 17th Michael V. Gmitter Scholarship Exhibition and displayed a short series titled “Quiet Defiance” in the Pennwest Bruce Gallery.
Throughout college, she experimented with non-objective abstract paintings and discovered a technique to incorporate these expressive qualities into her figurative work. She found her portraiture style while creating a series of portraits and abstractions from 2025-2026. With this series she promoted self love and appreciation for unique beauty by painting portraits of her friends, along with an abstraction of their personality.
As of June 2026, her newest series utilizes portraiture, landscapes and symbolism inspired by music, dreams and cinematography to create a highly cohesive collection. With this series, she aims to capture her artistic vision and express her identity.
Rockwell continues to complete commissions, sell prints and show her paintings in galleries as she explores her artist career. She strives to expand her presence in the art world through exhibitions, collaborations, and exploring a connection with her audience.