ARTIST STATEMENT
In my work, I challenge boundaries. Where is the line between plant and animal, beauty and ugliness, chaos and order? I am intrigued by how we, as humans, try to make sense of oppositional ideas, and I use imagery from the natural world to investigate.
I am captivated by organisms that resist categorization. Carnivorous plants, motile algae and photosynthetic animals are real world examples of this phenomenon. In addition, I create my own label-defying entities. By combining elements from diverse life forms, I construct hybrid beings that straddle the border between multiple domains.
Sometimes beautiful, sometimes monstrous, my creatures allow me to question dualistic assumptions through the manipulation of attraction and repulsion. Unsettling forms and looming sinister figures commingle with pleasing patterns. Worms, tentacles, and disconcerting imagery appear in vibrant colors and attractive compositions. The conventional binary of beauty vs. ugliness is thus perturbed.
In a further rejection of dualistic paradigms, my paintings explore the concept of abstraction as a continuum. The multiple styles used in my work represent various points along this spectrum, ranging from realistic to non-representational. Recognizable flora and fauna from the naturalistic extreme delve into abstraction through simplification. Increased stylization is shown through flat graphic shapes, which are often repeated to form a pattern. Finally, the greatest degree of abstraction appears in the symbols.
Ultimately, combining these myriad contrasting styles subverts an absolutist approach. No single style or point-of-view dominates.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Gail Wagner has explored a variety of media over the years while maintaining a consistent interest in studying the natural world. She began in abstract painting, then ventured into sculpture and installation, experimenting with many different materials and approaches until she developed her own style of large-scale fiber sculptures. These abstract, colorful soft sculptures were crocheted out of mop cotton, then dyed, stuffed, sewn, and decorated with paint or beads. This work has been seen in solo shows at the Arvada Center for the Arts and the Longmont Museum in Colorado. She has now returned to painting with a combination of abstraction and realism. She is still taking inspiration from nature and a study of the natural world. Gail Wagner has both a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology. She is currently a full member of Edge Gallery in Lakewood, Colorado.
© Gail Wagner