Film negatives. LA, OR, OTHER. ~1968-1984. 2025. Colored pencil on paper. 1.875 x 7.5 inches

March 24-29, 2026
Reception: Friday, March 27 | 5:00pm-6:30pm


The Carlos Gallery in the Visual Art Building at the University of the South is pleased to present half return, an exhibition by Savannah Brister, C’ 26.

Savannah Brister’s half return explores memory, absence, and the unknown through grief. She references smartphone and film images to recreate records of the past. Through small works and layered materials, the works engage space and create distance from the viewer, asking viewers to consider what is missing. With media such as paper, pencil, and cyanotype, the works become fragile objects, changing and decaying with time. By using a limited color palette and negative space, she prevents a full rendering or understanding of places and subjects. These still, distant moments reflect the quiet of isolation. The images and formats are repeated, becoming slightly varied copies that question memory. half return gives viewers the space to experience the varied emotions of absence.

Smartphone photo. OR. 2021. 2025. Ballpoint pen on paper. 6.25 x 2.75 inches
Savannah Brister (b. 2003, Shreveport, Louisiana) explores identity, family, memory and the unknown through drawing, painting, and photography. She will receive her BA in Art from Sewanee: The University of the South in May 2026. She volunteers as a gallery sitter and art teacher near Sewanee, and works as a studio intern in Chattanooga, TN. She has received a Fellowship in the Arts (2022), the Peter V. Guarisco Merit Scholarship in Art (2025), and the Robert Bowden Shepard Jr. Photography Award (2025) from the University of the South. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries, including the St. Augustine Art Association in Florida, and the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. 

Carlos Gallery
Visual Art Building
105 Kennerly Road
University of the South
Sewanee, Tennessee

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
Contact: Jessica Wohl, jewohl@sewanee.edu