Patricia Carrigan
Artist Statement
For me painting is about telling stories and recalling memories. The predominant focus of my studio work is on heritage and how memories we pass on from generation to generation shift and evolve in significance depending upon what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.
Much of this work is centered on issues of direction, tracks and traces of where I have been or may go, of losing one way and finding another route back. Celtic cairns, map icons, star charts, trail blazes, numbers, words, time charts, family stories, animal symbols, clothes, and furniture suggest markers that are both recognizable and at the same time vary in their meaning by placement or juxtaposition of each other.
I worK primarily in oil painting, drawing, or mixd media collage on primed canvas, board, or prepared papers usually on a series of 6-8 pieces at a time. I often will layer several surfaces and images, covering and uncovering as I go, seeking out what lies above or below my original image. This process of working abstractly with some definitive reference point reveals bits of imagery slowy over time like the telling of a story.
I am most interested in how stories of personal experiences, myths, and personal legends change and alter each time told and how often we actively choose to rewrite history each time we tell a story.
Artist Statement
For me painting is about telling stories and recalling memories. The predominant focus of my studio work is on heritage and how memories we pass on from generation to generation shift and evolve in significance depending upon what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.
Much of this work is centered on issues of direction, tracks and traces of where I have been or may go, of losing one way and finding another route back. Celtic cairns, map icons, star charts, trail blazes, numbers, words, time charts, family stories, animal symbols, clothes, and furniture suggest markers that are both recognizable and at the same time vary in their meaning by placement or juxtaposition of each other.
I worK primarily in oil painting, drawing, or mixd media collage on primed canvas, board, or prepared papers usually on a series of 6-8 pieces at a time. I often will layer several surfaces and images, covering and uncovering as I go, seeking out what lies above or below my original image. This process of working abstractly with some definitive reference point reveals bits of imagery slowy over time like the telling of a story.
I am most interested in how stories of personal experiences, myths, and personal legends change and alter each time told and how often we actively choose to rewrite history each time we tell a story.