An exhibit of artwork by a Troy University alumna and her husband is now on display in the University’s International Arts Center’s Foyer Gallery.

The work by Carolyn Pyfrom, a 1995 TROY graduate, and her husband, Peter Van Dyck, includes vast landscapes to intimate interiors, still lifes and portraits and will be on display through Dec. 18. The couple and their son, Sam, spend most of the year in their home in Philadelphia and summers working and visiting family in Elba, Ala., where Pyfrom grew up. The artists’ work reflects both locations, which they consider home to their family.

“We are honored to show the work of Carolyn and Peter,” said Carrie Jaxon, Director and Curator of the International Arts Center. “They are masterful painters who beautifully portray spaces and objects from everyday life with captivating talent. We are looking forward to having them here for the artist reception October 6, when they will also spend time speaking to a few of our art classes on campus. Carolyn is a TROY graduate as well, which is also inspiring for our art students to see how she has flourished in her profession.”

Pyfrom studied at Troy University from 1990 to 1995 where she completed majors in both studio art and mathematics. She moved on to study painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, from 1998 to 2002. Also, as part of her studies, Pyfrom spent a year abroad at Obirin University in Tokyo, Japan, from 1993 to 1994 on scholarship through Troy University and the America-Japan Society. She later returned to teach English in Japan from 1996 to 1998. 

Pyfrom has been exhibiting her artwork and teaching since 2002. She currently teaches at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and has also taught at Arcadia University, Swarthmore College, The Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial and The Florence Academy of Art. She has exhibited in solo and group shows across the United States and has received numerous prestigious fellowships and grants for her artwork.

Van Dyck, a native of Philadelphia, studied painting and drawing at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy from 1998-2002. He returned to Philadelphia in 2002 and began exhibiting his work in group shows in Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco. He has had solo shows at John Pence Gallery, San Francisco in 2004 and 2008; Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York, 2006; The Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, 2010; Harrisburg Area Community College in 2020; and Sugarlift Gallery, New York in 2022.

In 2003, he began teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program. In 2012, he was named one of 25 “Important Artists of Tomorrow” by American Artist Magazine, and in 2013, his work was included in the book “Painted Landscapes, Contemporary Views” by Lauren P. della Monica. His work has also been reproduced in periodicals including, American Artist Magazine, American Arts Quarterly, Art News, American Art Collector, International Artist Magazine, Art and Antiques and Pratique des Arts and Trebuchet Magazine.

Artist, professor and writer Elana Hagler called the exhibit “a genuine painter’s delight.”

“Pyfrom and Van Dyck met during their time studying at the Florence Academy in Italy. Their more classical approach to painting from that time has since evolved to one rooted in the surprising nature of the painterly response to deep observation of the visual world,” Haigler wrote in her review of the collection. “Both Pyfrom and Van Dyck weave sensual visual mythologies out of everyday encounters. Brick and chrome and wood and flesh are old friends encountered anew. The humble familiar is both embraced and transcended.”

Hagler’s full review is available at https://paintingperceptions.com/carolyn-pyfrom-peter-van-dyck-review/.