3X5 Art Challenge
I decided to share this on my blog originally I had done this fun little art sharing project on my facebook page some time back where artists nominated each other to share their works. This is a look at some time chunks of my creative life. I find looking back helps get through difficult days and well these days have been a bit weird figuring out what my next future steps will be with my art not so much what will I make but how will I share it? I have not pushed any in person exhibits since the very end of 2019 then the 2020 Pandemic hit and well as you all know it changed things.
Part 1:
I am sharing the early years from:
High School
College
Post college years in my 20s.
HIGH SCHOOL YEARS: Here are a few visual crumbs from my high school daze gone by. I tended toward Distortionism during this time. I took comfort in drawing twisted creatures. I found a home in discovering the surrealist movement when I was 17 seeing Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington and on and on expanded my mind and felt a kinship with many of these works. They really struck a chord deep in my heart and and helped spread my artistic roots early on. Attending the Summer Arts Institute when I was 16/17 also had a huge impact on my creative life introducing me to an art family, a community of minds that stays with me in my present day. An experience I am deeply grateful for!
COLLEGE YEARS: (1993- 1997) Art Skool Daze! So I started out in the fine arts department at parsons which I don't really have any examples here to show during that time... I thought about showing them but decided not to simply out of laziness that I would have to dig through archives to photo graph works as I did not have anything at my immediate disposal. So I had a hard time in fine arts not connecting and feeling very isolated so I did what any disconnected jerk would do I quit I dropped out I said fuck this shit and went to work at an art supply store... but not the end of the story for college... I had an itching in my heart to go to school so I reapplied after some failed attempts with financial aid at other schools fell through. I went back to Parsons after a year or 2 off. This time around I chose to go into the illustration dept. It worked out for me. I made a lot of character driven works while I was there I even interned at a Puppet Company which was a fun time not sure how practical it was for life but I was never super practical.
EARLY MID 20s : Mid 90s- early 2000s After college I continued to make art, a LOT of art actually but it was done almost in secret not sharing it publicly or showing in galleries... but that would change in my late 20s when I began to show the work and got hooked on exhibiting also having a website helped get the art out there to share with the public, it was exciting being able to share my work with the world the internet then and now still blows my mind at the power of communication we can reach people we would never have reached if it never existed... mind blowing truly. The works during this early period where also heavy character driven pieces with very personal layers and symbols... they were my art therapy for sorting out life... some things never change wink emoticon They were dark funny and sad just like I often viewed life with touches of wonder. The works were a mix as always acrylic, oil and not pictured here water colors and drawings.
Part 2:
I am sharing images from my 2006 House Broken series officially not my first solo show but certainly one of my favorite shows from memories
The idea of home is within all of us, be it the home we long for or the home we yearn to escape. Regardless of our individual experiences, each of us journeys through life to discover the safety, love and warmth that a true home provides. Inevitably we face our own personal fears and struggles along the way, becoming damaged in the process- but loss and pain occasionally must be the material from which we build.
A true home is found within oneself. Our memories, feelings, and experiences are the inhabitants of ourselves, dwelling within us to provide the comfort we seek. In life we must learn how to construct our home so that we may comfortably live within ourselves.
Like any house, we endure our personal storms, and like any house, we become broken. But we can withstand even the most severe damage, persevering against loss and pain time and again by clinging to the comfort and love for our home. I myself have come from a broken home, uprooted many times throughout my youth, no stranger to hardship and loss. Though the journey was difficult, I have found my home. The dichotomy of House Broken is at once a struggle of confrontation as well as a celebration of my homecoming. Built and broken through loss and pain, love and comfort, I have created this place for myself. I call it home. I have been House Broken; I am House Broken.
Part 3:
STRAYS COLLECTION: I decided to share some selections from my Strays collection including the beloved Rotten Tooth Gang as we ll as my Octopus Girl and some other old friends wink emoticon All these works were created between 2004-2006
Octopus Girl (A Subtle Destruction) shortly after I painted this painting my left hand had a metal door shut fully on it almost severing my left thumb and breaking it. It could have been so much worse however it was because of this tragedy that I was able to focus and become ambidextrous and now paint with both hands! Prior to all this I was left hand dominant but as horrible as it was to go through I would not change its course as it lead me to push myself in ways I never thought possible in order to continue to pursue my dreams so now I am ambi angie.
Rotten Tooth Gang! Worn by Amber Tamblyn and seen on IFC's orginal series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret first episode!
Part 4:
I am focusing on my beastie characters... many of them hydra beasts with multi faceted personas... compartmentalized segments of personalities existing as one tormented creature. They surface quite often for me looking back over the years. And more are on the way!
Dealt Hand - Oil on canvas 2010
Part 5:
The Angie Journals! In looking toward the future it always starts here for me in my sketchbooks. A doodle a daydream a quick sketch. Here you will see a peek into my early creative process. This initial seeding stage is always a huge part of my development with any body of work. These are my blueprints they help me build out and up. I am always navigating the next collection within my sketchbooks a birthing ground of ideas. Looking at this sampling of images my visual blueprint maps are looking rich in pattern, texture, geometric shapes mixing with my characters. This is the final installment of this challenge and now TO THE FUTURE! Punch it sweets!
Well I hope you enjoyed this deep dive in my work!
Keep watching for more!
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