FLARE SWARM
Mixed media collage on watercolor paper mounted on wood panel.  20" h x 24" w.
This piece is Finished Edge, ready to hang, and requires no additional framing.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work combines drawing, painting, and collage, and can be seen as maps; abstracted and swirling, indirect yet engaging. The pieces serve as guides to reconnect to the dynamic, shape-shifting life path, and can be seen as a reflective act to reestablish mind-body synchronization on a human scale.

I begin with word drawings of obsessive thoughts, making an amalgam of letter-forms which serve as the foundational architecture of the ensuing piece. This is a grounding activity that processes emotional residues, thus engaging with the unconscious and its subtler influences. Once the preliminary text exercises have taken shape, I apply them to another ground, usually toned and with a mixture of textures such as unprimed canvas and primed, or different paper qualities; this offers opportunities to remain present while making, responding to how the media react to the different grounds.

These pieces achieve balance while preserving a sense of obliqueness, a reminder of our resolve to live life amidst impending challenges. In a similar sense, I see my collaged works as responding to the teetering uncertainty of present times, an attempt to hem in that which is too much.

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Ashley Fearfield