STATEMENT
My body of work (Artifacts of Construction) is a synthesis of multiple experiences merged into a singular moment. I’m interested in how we process and retain experiences and use those experiences as an anchor point in order to better understand an idea or experience through re-creating. My work is a response to the state of our Contemporary world and allows viewers a space to think about matters pertaining to absence, presence, nostalgia, experience, and history.
My process explores the enigmatic and sometimes meager qualities of our environments. I am interested in the ambiguity of experience and finding the beauty in the mundane. Many of my paintings are on the verge of breaking down or slowly vanishing. I use plaster and acrylic as a way to express the recording of an experience. Through use of layering, peeling, scraping and the shifting of depth and perspective, I explore the process of how we retain experiences and how our environments are effected by change and the passing of time. My work pictorialize’s the artifacts of process and creates a sense of history and passing of time which emerges within each mark.
My body of work (Architecture, Space) uses oils and acrylics to create collaged moments of architectural spaces and landscapes. My work is influenced by personal photographs and sketches of travels. Through collage, I reconstruct the interiors and exteriors of architectural structures and environments, while blurring the line between representational and abstraction, in order to create a tension between the two.
My body of work (Memory) uses oils to create moments of mundane spaces and landscapes captured in time. My work is influenced by personal photographs and sketches, many of which were taken while I lived in Boston. My paintings often take on the presence of film stills, by capturing a single moment in time. These particular moments are influenced by spaces, landscapes, and objects that often go unnoticed. Through painting, I am able to completely immerse myself in the fabrication of these environments.
BIO
Margaret Curnow-Tyer (b. Utica NY, 1987) is an established visual artist and art educator based in Jacksonville, Fl. Prior to moving to Jacksonville, she was a former Upper Visual Arts Teacher at the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She received her MFA from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art with a critical studies concentration (2019). She holds a Masters in Art Education K-12 from Boston University (2013), Post Baccalaureate in Studio Art from Brandeis University (2015), and a Bachelors in Art Education K-12 from Flagler College (2009).
Margaret has graduate level teaching experience, including holding graduate teaching assistantships in painting and drawing at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Brandeis University, and University of South Florida. She was a graduate program assistant for the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting MFA program, where she helped direct vision and strategy for the graduate program. She is the former Director of Community Arts for an Arlington County community arts program in Arlington, VA, serving K-12 students and has been a certified art educator for both the Pinellas County School District and St. Johns County School District. She was previously on the board at FemArt gallery in Jacksonville, FL and served as their Education committee chair, where she developed educational programs and recruited and supervised instructors for FemArt workshops and lectures.
She has exhibited in numerous exhibitions including Arts @ 29 Garden Gallery at Harvard University, Craven Arts Council and Gallery in New Bern, NC, Haskell Gallery in Jacksonville, FL, Gallery Underground in Arlington, VA, Drietzer Gallery at Brandeis University, Tampa Museum of Art in Tampa, FL, St. Augustine Art Association in St. Augustine, FL, Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY, William and Nancy Oliver Gallery in Tampa, FL, Art Pool Gallery in St. Petersburg, FL, Riggs Leidy Gallery at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Solo Exhibition; Beauty in the Decline (March-May 2019) at Gallery Blue Door in Baltimore, MD. Her work is held in private and permanent collections across the U.S. including the Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, her work has been featured in Studio Visit magazine and RadX magazine.