Words from Marygrove Gallery Director, Nicole Parker

Miss April: The work of April Segedi interacts with Billy O'Bryans work as they comment on imagery and narratives of beauty and the myth of beauty. April says in her artist statement "Yet even in lands of beauty and glitter,evil things creep about in false glamours". One cannot overlook the use of such image by O'Bryan. In a slightly different context, Miss April touches on fairy tales and myth, the disenchantment of one's expectations post fairy tale excitement, and Elizabethan or Victorian sensibilities by the aesthetics of the journal, skeleton keys, lace doily and vintage photographs of Rosebud and her Secrets. Miss April's images are slightly haunting or "beautifully grotesque", the nouveau gothic. In love with these creatures, many artists around the globe are working in similar context, using little girls, fairy tales and anthropomorphic figures. Filling fantastical landscapes and critiquing political or social ideals of a nation.

~Nicole Parker.

Kate McDowell...

These works are from the artist Kate McDowell. Her work is just striking to me. The absence of color or the subtle use of yellow, or dusty pinks just creates this innocence in her works that have such a strong story behind them. They are just amazing

My newest work

For the Spirit of Place exhibition I wanted to evoke the viewer to make up their own story about the work they saw. With Rosebud and Her Secrets the viewer gets a small glimpse of what she is trying to hide under her pillows, a journal, skeleton keys and photos. I like the Victorian idea of taxidermy and the act of collecting and preserving just about everything. The Flower and Insect collages are perfect examples of this idea.

My creatures come out of the secret fantasy world that exists in my head. Through the creation process they come to life in our reality. They are a mash up of novels I have read, movies I have seen and the secret world that I live in when I am alone.

I don't expect people to understand or get it, it's kind of a personal story and If I can cause some sort of reaction with the viewer, positive or negative, I believe I have succeeded. To see more imagery please visit my Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/feltbunny313/

My new little sugar muffin