I am absolutely thrilled that two pieces, Off Grid and Into the Wild, have been selected as a part of Falls Church Arts Gallery's upcoming show, Wild. In addition, Off Grid was selected by juror Tara Barr for the Juror's Choice Award. I don't even have any words for this aside from thank you!!!!
The theme for Wild was chosen from a pool of words in what Falls Church Arts called, Art Madness, a sports bracket style competition voted on by members and friends on Instagram. It was so fun (as FCA's Instagram manager) to see how the voting went and to create art in response to the chosen word: Wild.
As I wrote on Instagram in July, these pieces relate to the Wild theme in several ways. First, the underpaintings, made on canvas board with acrylic paint, are loose references to maps, in particular the area surrounding Lake Superior in Michigan's UP. The UP is very wild and one of my favorite places on earth.
Second, the tissue paper collage grid is made from prints off my Gelli plate to soak up excess paint - wild in the sense of bright colors and quick, almost manic work when assembling. And finally, the children in both pieces, with faces obscured with gold paint, were cut from old National Geographic magazines from my dad's extensive collection. The wildness here is represented in the idea of a self portrait, always trying to be good (golden) and please others while at the same time recognizing and honoring the wild that is in me and all of us.