Biography
Kannetha Brown is a second-generation Cambodian-American artist whose work in photography and narrative history explores cultural preservation and historical reckoning. Rooted in her family’s survival of the Cambodian Genocide, she draws on spiritual and material traditions to reinterpret personal and collective memory. Her work has been exhibited nationally at Lesley University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Iowa, and featured in The New York Times and Rolling Stone. She has received support from the Rhode Island Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Providence Department of Art, Culture, Tourism, and has lectured at Leica, Rhode Island School of Design, and Bryant University. Brown earned her BFA in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with departmental and academic honors.
Artist Statement
Like many Cambodian-Americans, I grew up imagining the faces and lives of relatives I would never meet, glimpsing them only through my mother’s memoir, the rare stories shared over home-cooked meals, and the few photographs we were lucky to find. Following the Cambodian Civil War and Khmer Rouge genocide, photographs were lost or forbidden. When the country was liberated, my mother returned to her childhood home in Phnom Penh and discovered portraits that had survived the rubble. She smuggled a few through the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp in Thailand, carrying them in a rice bag that doubled as a pillow. They followed her to the United States and now rest in my hands as the only visual traces of my family. One of these photographs, taken by a Khmer Rouge official of her sister, sparked in me a deep need to understand how an image born from violence was the only artifact that proves her existence.
I was raised in Rhode Island, home to the third-largest Cambodian community in New England. My mother, a nurse practitioner, cared for refugees and monks, grounding me in the rhythms and stories of the community. My work in photography and narrative history engages with inherited memory, exploring family stories and traditions, community life, and Cambodian landscapes. I work primarily in medium and large format film, drawn to its meticulous process, tonal richness, and capacity to render subtle textures and the nuances of light. The deliberate pace of film allows me to approach portraiture and documentary work with care, emphasizing presence, materiality, and the intimate exchange between subject and image.
Through this practice, I reclaim photography as a tool for remembrance, mediation, and connection. My images transform inherited memory into visual narratives that bridge generations, honor continuity, and make space for reflection, encounter, and dialogue.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2023: BFA Photography, Departmental & Academic Honors, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Selected Awards
2025: Make Art Grant, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA)
2025: Micro Grant, Interlace Fund x Dirt Palace
2025: Long List, Booooooom Photo Awards
2025: Beatrice S. Demers Language Fellowship, Rhode Island Foundation
2024: Citizen Citation, Mayor of Providence
2024: Certificate of Recognition, Kun Khmer International Federation
2024: Interlace Project Grant, Andy Warhol Foundation
2023: Micro Grant, Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism (ACT)
2023: Highly Commended, JUST Art Award, The SHIM Social Justice Network
2023: Morton R. Godine Fellowship, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
2023: Up Next Photographers, Diversify Photo
2023: Micro Grant, AS220 via Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism (ACT)
2023: Scholarship, New England Portfolio Review (presented by the Photographic Resource Center and Griffin Museum of Photography)
2023: Micro Grant, What Cheer Writers Club
2023: Grant, Office of Justice, Equity, and Transformation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
2023: New York Portfolio Review (presented by New York Times, Photoville, and Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism)
2022: Public Art Installation and Grant, Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism (ACT)
2022: Shortlist, Project Grant, Women Photograph
2022: 6 of the Best Asian American Photographers in 2022, The Phoblographer
2022: Micro Grant, The Womxn Project
2022: Global Competence and Intercultural Understanding Award, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
2022: Scholarship to Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
2021: The 11 Best Commercial Photographers in Providence, Peerspace
2021: Gertrude Kasebier Photography Prize (juried by Farah Al Qasimi), Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Selected Solo + Two Person Exhibitions
2026: Kannetha Brown and Raphael Pech, National Cambodian Heritage Museum, Chicago, IL
2025: Portraits of Asian American Experience, Bryant University, Lincoln, RI
2024: Kannetha Brown and Tarik Bartel, YEAY YAI: an ode to grandmothers, City Hall, Providence, RI
2024: AAPI Mobile History Museum, The Cambodian American Journey, Brown University, Providence, RI
2024: Photographs of Rhode Island’s Cambodian Community, Brown University Center for Students of Color, Providence, RI
2023: Two Oceans: Asian Americans in Providence, AS220, Providence, RI
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025: Big Camera Show, Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR
2025: Idioms of Distress, AS220, Providence, RI
2025: Proleung Khmer, Lowell Community Health Center, Lowell, MA
2025: Art off the Wall, Brookline Arts Center, Brookline, MA
2025: Art off the Wall: Preview Exhibition, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA
2025: Big Camera Show, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2025: New Voices, Warwick Center for the Arts, Warwick, RI
2024: When I Get Home, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
2023: Pictures and Progress: MassArt Photo Alumni Exhibition, Doran Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2023: Take up Space: Spatial Justice Art Exhibition, The Cordial Eye Gallery, Hyannis, MA
2023: Edward M. Bannister National Exhibition (juried by Krista Scenna), Providence Art Club, Providence, RI
2022: Who We Are Now, Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism, Providence, RI
2022: Community Invitational, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI
2021: GRRL Telephone II, GRRL HAUS CINEMA, Berlin, Germany
2021: El Salón, Take Space, Jean McDonough Arts Center, Worcester, MA
2021: 100 Visions of Motherhood, The Luupe (Virtual)
Selected Lectures and Symposiums
2026: Panelist - Photography Alumni Panel, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2025: Panelist - My Grandmother is an Altar, moderated by Audrey Sands (Associate Curator of Photography, Harvard Art Museum), Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
2025: Speaker - RISD Art Appreciation, RISD Continuing Education, Providence, RI
2025: Panelist - Jeffrey Jin in conversation with Kannetha Brown, Grid Gallery, Providence, RI
2025: Artist Talk - Leica, Boston, MA
2025: Panelist - Innovation Design Experience for All (IDEA) Symposium, Bryant University, Lincoln, RI
2024: Artist Talk - Bryant University, Lincoln, RI
2024: Artist Talk - Kannetha Brown and Tarik Bartel, YEAY YAI: An Ode to Grandmothers, Providence, RI
2024: Speaker - Center for Students of Color, Brown University, Providence, RI
2023: Artist Talk - Sophomore Photography Studio, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2023: Artist Talk - Photography Internship Program, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
2024: Speaker - Andy Warhol Interlace Grant Award Ceremony, Providence College, Providence, RI
2024: Artist Talk - Residency Program, Creative Reuse Center, East Providence, RI
2024: Panelist - Creating a Piphp Thmei (New World Order): Reflecting the Cambodian American Imagination for the Future,Urban Khmer Ballet/Sokai Yoon
2024: Panelist - WaterFire Accelerate Fellowship Program, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
2023: Panelist - Two Oceans: AAPI Artist Panel, AS220, Providence, RI
2023: Speaker - Celebrating AAPI Heritage, PechaKucha, Providence, RI
2023: Panelist - Who We Are Now, Public Art Installation and Grant, Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism (ACT), Providence, RI
2023: Artist Talk - Billboard Project, The Womxn Project Education Fund, Providence, RI
2023: Panelist - 5 Alive, Curiosity and Co., Jamestown RI
2021: Speaker - The Importance of Analog Preservation, Archive Remix Film Festival, Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, RI
Bibliography
↳ Print Media
2025: The New York Times - Cambodian Genocide 50th Anniversary
2025: Avenuel - Capturing Kinship
2024: ArtScope - Providence Art Club’s Third Annual Community Invitational Exhibition
↳ Online Periodicals
2025: New England Art News - Three Artists Highlight Grandmothers in Compelling Show
2025: It’s Nice That - Kannetha Brown explores family, trauma and survival
2025: RI News Today - Warwick exhibition celebrates emerging artists
2024: Turn to 10 WJAR - Photographers honor Southeast Asian grandmothers through Providence City Hall art gallery
2024: Bryant University News - Worth a thousand words: AAPI photo project celebrates diversity, community and sharing stories
2024: Andy Warhol Foundation - Interlace Grant Fund Announces Recipients of 2024 Project Grants for Visual Art Projects
2023: WaterFire - WaterFire Announces the 2023-2024 WaterFire Accelerate Cohort
2023: Artist in Providence - Two Oceans: Kannetha Brown
2022: Turn to 10 WJAR - Providence unveils 5 portraits to be displayed throughout downtown
2022: City of Providence - City of Providence Unveils New Large-Scale Portrait Project “Who We Are Now”
↳ Blogs
2024: New England Art News - Work(s) of the Week: Tarik Bartel and Kannetha Brown at City Hall
2024: Insight Into Diversity - Photoshoot at Bryant University Celebrates AAPI Heritage
2023: Woo by ITV - Striking Photos Capturing the Cambodian American Community Outside War
2023: Massachusetts College of Art and Design - Campus News: Announcing the 2023 Student Award Winners
2023: Massachusetts College of Art and Design - Planet Woo recently interviewed MassArt photography alumna Kannetha Brown
2023: Khmer Renaissance - AAPI Khmer American Spotlight: Kannetha Brown
2023: Massachusetts College of Art and Design - Career Development: Kannetha Brown, Intern at Rhode Island Historical Society
2023: Massachusetts College of Art and Design - Campus News: The Importance of Resources in Pursuing a Photography Degree
2022: The Phoblographer - 6 of the Best Asian American Photographers in 2022
2021: Peerspace - The 11 Best Commercial Photographers in Providence
2021: Very Good Light - 11 Gen-Z Asian American Photographers Capturing the Complexities of Being AAPI Today
Fellowships and Residencies
2023: Residency, Graduate Hotel, Providence, RI
2023: Fellowship, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
2023: Fellowship, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Public and Private Collections
Providence Department of Art, Culture, Tourism (ACT)
Lyssa Palu-Ay - Dean: Office of Justice, Equity, Transformation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Rachel Stern - Assistant Professor of Photography, Union College
Clint Baclawski - Adjunct Professor of Graduate Studies and Associate Director of Technology, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Mel Taing - Adjunct Professor of Photography, Simmons University
Portfolio Reviewer/Critic
2024: Critic - Photography Internship Program, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
2022: Critic - Media Arts, AS220 Youth Apprenticeship Program, Providence, RI
Member of a Jury Panel
2025: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Visual Arts Career and Technical Education (CTE) Credential, Providence, RI
Teaching Experience
2023: Paraprofessional Instructional Aid - Sophomore Photography Studio, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston, MA
2023: Instructor - Cyanotype, Providence Recreation Department, Providence, RI
2023: Instructor - Analog Activism, Curiosity & Co., Jamestown, RI
2022: Instructor - Large Format Photography, AS220 Youth Apprenticeship Program
2022: Instructor - Film Photography and Cyanotype, Graduate Hotel Residency, Providence, RI
2021: Teaching Assistant - Studio Foundation: Visual Language, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston, MA
Curatorial
2025: Kannetha Brown and Raphael Pech, National Cambodian Heritage Museum, Chicago, IL
2024: Raphael Pech, Sabaidee Fest, Chino, California
Work
Present: Image Specialist - iolabs, East Providence, RI
2024: Gallery Assistant - Providence Art Club, Providence, RI
2023: Media Arts Shop Lead - AS220, Providence, RI
2023: Photography Cage Monitor - Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Providence, RI
2021: Film Archivist Intern - Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, RI
Full CV available upon request.
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