Installation titled Honoring the Divine Feminine, on display in Grand Rapids, MI, as part of the annual Art Prize event 2023.
This assemblage work is an elaborate and multifaceted altar intended to bridge beyond any religion and to celebrate the feminine spirit in all self-identified women in all their complexity and depth. The heart of the piece is a mixed media work that speaks to the opportunity to rewrite the mythology surrounding women [Medusa, Eve etc.]. This work is surrounded by ten portraits. [NOTE: each of the works can be viewed individually on the gallery page titled Divine Feminine] Each portrait involve assemblage that pushes the individual beyond the canvas and together they make a statement about the complexity and value of the individual in a world that tires to put women into neat, controllable boxes. This montage of portraits are formatted into an altar assemblage including complex drapery and fronted by an altar table laden with collected objects.
While each portrait begins with painting and then pushes beyond the canvas for broader expression. The materials of assemblage range from bits picked up on the street or scavenged from family and friend discards, to objects spied in thrift stores. My practice of salvage and assemblage in my art making both reflects the complexity and ever changing detritus we all discard and also provides an opportunity to reuse and reclaim materials in an environmentally responsible manner. The collected, found and reclaimed materials may not initially relate to each other but together contribute to a cohesive statement that affirms the complexity that makes up the life of each individual and the collective.
This assemblage work is an elaborate and multifaceted altar intended to bridge beyond any religion and to celebrate the feminine spirit in all self-identified women in all their complexity and depth. The heart of the piece is a mixed media work that speaks to the opportunity to rewrite the mythology surrounding women [Medusa, Eve etc.]. This work is surrounded by ten portraits. [NOTE: each of the works can be viewed individually on the gallery page titled Divine Feminine] Each portrait involve assemblage that pushes the individual beyond the canvas and together they make a statement about the complexity and value of the individual in a world that tires to put women into neat, controllable boxes. This montage of portraits are formatted into an altar assemblage including complex drapery and fronted by an altar table laden with collected objects.
While each portrait begins with painting and then pushes beyond the canvas for broader expression. The materials of assemblage range from bits picked up on the street or scavenged from family and friend discards, to objects spied in thrift stores. My practice of salvage and assemblage in my art making both reflects the complexity and ever changing detritus we all discard and also provides an opportunity to reuse and reclaim materials in an environmentally responsible manner. The collected, found and reclaimed materials may not initially relate to each other but together contribute to a cohesive statement that affirms the complexity that makes up the life of each individual and the collective.