photo: merne judson the third for West + Main

photo: merne judson the third for West + Main

MY WORK

UPCOMING EXHIBITION:
APRIL 2024 @ SPACE GALLERY, DENVER CO

My paintings include hints of two-dimensional icons, stained glass windows, ceremonial objects, carnivalesque paraphernalia, dressmaker pattern pieces, and carefully designed altars. I see the work as functional and as such it may resemble a strange alchemical device, a crude vessel, a protective figure, a fortune teller, a shamanic robe, an asymmetrical mandala…all of which shepherd the process of transformation.

I am inspired by the decadence of Art Deco; the hope and efficiency of Mid-Century aesthetics; the joining of texture, light and comfort in interior design; the riotous maximalism in haute couture; the rawness of tribal mark making; and the implied doorway to the unseen in esoteric symbology. All of these influences are cradled in deep investigations into color, particularly its role as a visual phenomenon and catalyst for sparking feeling and narrative.

My work is collected worldwide and featured in collections and collaborations in Denver, Seattle, New York, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nanjing, Dubai, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam among other places.


BIO

My early forays into making began in 1996 and included sewing, collage, assemblage, and mixed media—essentially simplified joinings of hard edges of color, shape and texture. Working with humble, found materials, I sewed record bags for local DJs out of upholstery remnants; made collages out of huge pieces of painted vinyl wallpaper, and glued together wood wall sculptures out of off-cuts scavenged from construction sites. My first painting show in 1999 at the infamous Bump & Grind Cafe in Denver was actually pieces made on large shards of glass from a shattered pastry case and vintage windows—the glass being my first teacher as it allowed for extensive experimentation. My self-taught methodology also reflects my math-mindedness and writing background, as I use an underlying grid structure to anchor the ethereality, and often work with many layers that are edited, re-edited and fine-tuned.

Through an intense spiritual retreat in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains of Colorado in 2005, I learned a way to hold space for healing that ultimately sparked the turning point in my work a decade later. In 2015, when foundational elements of my life were crumbling, the studio became that sacred space and painting became a scaffold for making sense, a ground for practicing acceptance, and a way for transmuting difficult emotions. Now I understand that I work to meld the conceptual, visual, and spiritual influences described above ignited by emotional themes. Union, bridging seemingly impossible parts of our lives, mending our brokenness, and the ways we visit the abyss and emerge from it with treasures are some of the universal motifs I approach.


resume

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023
District Chicago Mirror-Mirror” Print Show (Chicago, IL)
2022
Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition (Juror Jack Fischer)
Art & Object vFair (w/Space Gallery) “Denver Art Showcase”
Moberg Gallery “Contemporary Abstraction” (Des Moines, IA)
2021
Deji Art Museum “International Contemporary Art” (Nanjing, China)
Hamptons Fine Art Fair w/ Moberg Gallery (Southhampton, NY)
Space Gallery - Solo Exhibition “Bringer of the Tisane” (Denver, CO) - 360 Degree Tour
Moberg Gallery “Contemporary Women Paint: Abstract Expressions” (Des Moines, IA)
2019
Salon Art + Design Fair at the Park Ave Armory with Cristina Grajales Gallery (NYC)
Cristina Grajales Gallery curated by Stephanie Ingrassia ”Encounters” (NYC)
Space Gallery “Beyond the Framework” (Denver, CO) 360 degree tour
2018
The Art Project, Denver, CO
2017
Denver Designer Show House, Denver, CO
Amsterdam Kimpton "Corridors" Project (Amsterdam)
2016
Artwork Network "Entice" Group Show (Denver, CO)
2013
Denver Designer Show House (Denver, CO)
2012
Space Gallery - 11 Year Retrospective Group Show (Denver, CO)
2000-2011
New Denver Civic Theater Gallery “Light & Milky” (Denver, CO)
CORE “The Abstract Show” - Juried (Denver, CO)
Space Gallery “Aiming for the Seam” (Denver, CO)
Revoluciones Collective Art Space “Head Rest” (Denver, CO)
Rattlebrain Theater Gallery “Acts of Devotion” (Denver, CO)
Chance Operations Gallery - Group Show (Denver, CO)
Space Gallery “Strung up after the Circus” (Denver, CO)
23rd Avenue Sculpture Gallery - Group Show, (Denver, CO)
Arts on Vine “New Visions Through Old Windows” (Denver, CO)
Soulsciety Collective Art Space - Group Show (Denver, CO)
Revoluciones Collective Art Space - Group Show (Denver, CO)

COLLECTIONS
Deji Art Museum (Nanjing, China)
Sands Corp. (Macua and Singapore)
Boston Consulting Group
Beth DeWoody
Stephanie Ingrassia

EDUCATION
BA - University of Colorado, Denver CO (1998)
Art Students League, Denver CO (2000)
Certified Yoga & Meditation Instructor - Crestone Healing Arts Center, Crestone CO (2006)

SELECTED PROJECTS
ArtLink, London, UK
Capsule Arts, Al Quoz, Dubai
Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore
The Londoner Hotel, Macau, China
Via D’sa Interior Design, San Francisco, CA
Sicara Design, Austin, TX
Four Hands Furniture, Austin, TX
Project Air Hotel, NYC
Thompson Hotel, Denver CO
Cavallo Point, Sausalito, CA
Fontainebleau High Limit Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Kimpton De Witt Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

GIVING BACK
Luis Garcia Family, Draw Together (Collaboration with Werkshoppe), Urban Peak (Helping Denver youth exit homelessness), Denver Designer Showhouse (Benefit for Children’s Hospital), Lenah Deney Silent Auction, PBS, Lukemia / Lymphoma, PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), Denver Cooperative Preschool, Habitat for Humanity, ArtReach Denver; Art related projects and classroom volunteer: Stanley British Primary School, Bromwell Elementary School, Denver Cooperative Preschool, St. Louis Catholic School