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Meghan Bailey

Painting, collage and print

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art by somerville artistMeghanBailey titledAscent
Ascent Acrylic, collage, and hand printing on canvas, 2022 22 x 24 inches
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2023 Events

  • In Person (May 6+7, 12-6pm)
    Map#75 Washington Street Studios
    321 Washington Street First floor, right of entrance down the hallway.  
    [Not reported as Accessible]
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Artist's Statement

My current body of work remakes the original form of tools and machines using the formal language of abstraction, design, and decoration. Elements of shape, pattern, and bright Pop colors alter traditional functions and meaning. Previously masculine coded objects become gender ambiguous forms while the discarded is revitalized. Exploration with craft-based materials like collage, hand printing, paper pulp, and marker alongside paint further shift the objects into repurposed but impractical forms within an ambiguous space.

Fragmented forms coalesce, suggesting an invented, hybrid machine that assimilates mechanical and non-mechanical features, both organic and decorative. Visual dissonance is reflected by confusing form, and negative space, while bright colors add humor and mask unstable objects. The organic mechanism loses the connection with the original industrial form, yet threads of the machine are retained in details such as stylized gear teeth, outlines of machinery, and suggestions of repetitive movement. These references allow me to make idiosyncratic constructions and gestures, an inventive language that produces liminal spaces and moments of unease where organic mechanisms are on the verge of becoming, and living out new possibilities beyond prescribed utility.

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