ARTIST STATEMENT
I work professionally as an art therapist and find that my art practice has gradually become frequently comprised of small pieces brought together to make a whole. This is much like my work as a therapist, gathering snippets of memories, exploring feelings, and gradually creating a more complete story of a client’s experiences. In this particular piece, Jane’s Armor, it all started when my cats who really liked eating three meals a day. I really liked the shape of the pull tabs on their cat food cans, vowing to find a use for them. So I started collecting them, eventually combining them with fibers and wire. It had always looked like a sort of armor to me but, not until Roe v.. Wade was overturned, did I finally realize that I had an actual title for this work. It seems to have fairly strong materials , yet does have holes because laws keep popping up to make abortion harder to obtain in certain areas. Fighting back is not easy but it can be done!
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wittenberg University in Ohio, then Master of Art in Art Therapy degree in 1993. I have continued to make art while working full time as an art therapist with children, teens, and adult women. When I joined a group private practice full time, I discovered more free time to effectively create my own work and began to slowly show some of my pieces at galleries such as Moznart (2014) in Pullman, where I live, and Stola Contemporary Art gallery (2022). More recent artworks relate to issues that effect women, and world issues like climate change and human rights.
© Libby Anson