ARTIST STATEMENT
My current work is a creative investigation of the abstract qualities of time and memory, and the complex nature of identity. History and personal mythology are also recurring themes in my ongoing Mythical Memory series. This body of work combines Afro-surrealism, abstraction, and elements of pop art aesthetics – exploring my love of repetition. I employ the use of multiples as variations on a theme, and like to see how many times I can create a new work from the same reference imagery. I feel that it is impossible to exhaust an image.
Some questions that form the ideas around this series include: What does time do to memory, and memory to time? How much abstraction is needed to sort through these ideas? What is a lifetime, and what part does memory play in creating a life? How much power lives in a moment, and how many moments are needed to fulfill a journey? Can an entire story be told in one image? In the dance of the thread of life, in the circumference of a dream: what remains at the center? How many stories live inside one story? How many dreams unfold inside one dream?
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Monica J. Brown explores memory, history and personal mythology through visual art, sound, movement, writing and performance. Her visual art has been exhibited widely throughout Chicago, nationally and internationally. Some recent solo exhibitions spaces include: Forshey Gallery at the Chicago Temple, Chicago, IL; Morton College, Cicero, IL. Other exhibition spaces include Black Art in America, Atlanta, GA; Governors State University, University Park, IL; SooVAC, Minneapolis, MN; The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ; and Ucross Art Gallery, Ucross, WY. She has created murals with Chicago’s Hubbard Street Mural Project, and Detroit’s Live6 DNA Arts Project. Her work is currently represented by SoNa Chicago Art Gallery. Monica is a Ucross fellow, and has attended residencies at Atlantic Center for the Arts, Ragdale, and Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, among others. She has received Individual Artist Program grants from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and Individual Artist Support grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. She is also a recipient of Columbia College’s Albert P. Weisman Award. She earned a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; and an MA from Columbia College Chicago.
© Monica J. Brown