ARTISTS OFTEN SPEAK about the need be seen, represented, and have a voice. Beverly McIver (b. 1962) takes it a step further. She is candid and transparent about her life’s journey and acknowledges in her work real moments of despair and feeling overwhelmed and “entangled” by the challenges and complexities of everyday life, including depression, illness, and death.
The artist often shares her backstory. Born in Greensboro, N.C., McIver and her two sisters were raised by a single mother who worked multiple domestic jobs to support the family. She lived in public housing, grew up on welfare, and earned an MFA from Pennsylvania State University. Today, McIver divides her time between her art practice and teaching at Duke University, where she is a professor of the Practice of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. She also takes care of her older sister who is developmentally disabled, a commitment she made to her dying mother.
