ARTIST STATEMENT
Liminal spaces and narratives reoccur in the work that I make. Uncertain gravity, flickering shadows of sound, unsettling figures bracketing paradise, something about to happen, or its surreal aftermath – these are ideas and images that contain their own logic, and puzzling out that logic captivates me. I seek to mine the unconscious, where all minds meet, and create images that express something of that very human connection. I conjure the magic of Red-Green-Blue to tell my stories.
For me, the vibrating pixels of light on a screen are like fairy dust – able to transport and transform. Yet, the need for a screen shackles the magic. And, if the technology existed to have the image magically shimmer in front of the wall on drifting light filled paper, that would meet my vision. So, absent this esoteric, desired technology, prints on glass come close.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Penny McElroy is an artist and teacher. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and working as a counselor for 5 years, Penny entered the graduate graphics program at the University of Wisconsin / Madison. Since earning her MFA in 1984, Penny has taught graphic design, printmaking, and book arts at Bethany College in Kansas and at the University of Redlands in Southern California. Penny’s artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including recently in San Francisco, New Dehli, India, Colombia, Argentina, and New York, NY. Penny also maintains an active graphic design practice – 5&dime design.
Specializing in primarily print work, recent projects include advertising for the University of Redlands Art Gallery, the cover art and design of the Gorsky Press reissue of Strange Toys by Patricia Geary, and the cover art for Camera Obscura, a Noemi Press title by Rebecca Bednarz.
© Penny McElroy