ARTIST STATEMENT
I explore what it feels like to ‘be’ from two places and belong to neither. Intellectually, one can understand moving long distances across the globe. The resulting disorientation is inexplicable and daunting. Through the layered juxtapositions of found and new images, I analyze symbols and meanings – interpretation and misinterpretation. These linoleum studies explore personally meaningful sites to later develop in mixed media on a larger scale. I love the tactility, dimensionality, and the ensuing abstractions of the relief printing process.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mabi Ponce de León (Ph.D., History of Art, The Ohio State University, 2023; M.F.A., Studio Arts, Stony Brook University, 1992) is an independent scholar and artist. Born and raised in Argentina, she has lived and taught studio art at the Universidad de Monterrey in Nuevo León, Mexico, and currently teaches studio and art history in Central Ohio (Bexley HS and Ohio Wesleyan University). Research plays an important part in Ponce de León’s artwork. Her studio practice incorporates analog and digital media strongly influenced by cultural iconography, maps, location, and origins. Her installations use natural and manufactured materials whereas her two-dimensional work layers found imagery within constructed environments. She shows in university and commercial galleries, art centers, museums, and non-profit spaces. Additionally, she has curated shows and worked with various arts organizations, including serving on the Ohio Art League board. A member of Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, her work was recently included in Mirror Mirror, shown at the Springfield Museum of Art, University of Mary Washington Galleries, the College of Wooster Art Museum, and the Allen County Museum. This year, her work is in the Zanesville Museum of Art’s 79TH Ohio Annual Exhibition and the Ohio Arts Council Biennial Exhibition.
© Mabi Ponce de León