|
|
Fidler's recent return to collage is more refined and ambitious in execution and size, with many areas of hand-cut papers layered up to an inch thick. While captivated by the metaphysical qualities she finds in landscape formations, she also seems to digest the structures of the city as she undertakes a self-imposed sabbatical to paint in Los Angeles. For the first time, she includes architectural elements such as the black silhouette of skyscrapers seen in "Electro Eels". Fidler is obviously cognizant of recent trends toward nostalgic '60s psychedelia, yet she practices restraint. Grounded by heavy blacks, brightly colored aura like forms animate open skies and trees reach upward toward the heavens. Jennifer Gately, 2006 Oregon Biennial Catalogue
Birthplace: Traverse City, MI
Born: 1973
|
|
Biography
Anna Fidler received her BFA in painting from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI in 1995. Ms Fidler received her MFA from Portland State University in 2005. Her work was included in the 2001 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum, juried by Bruce Guenther; the 2001 Pacifc NW Annual at the Bellevue Art Museum, juried by Sue Spaid; "Pleasurecraft", the Tacoma Art Museum's 2001 Biennial curated by Gladys Nilsson; the 1999 Biennial at the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the Willamette Valley Annual in 2001 and 1996. She was selected for inclusion in the book 100 Artists of the West Coast by Douglas Bullis and published by Schiffer Books in 2003 and New American Paintings in 2005. Recent group exhibitions include UCLA "Invitationals", 2006, Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, CA "Paintings Edge". 2005. Her work is displayed in the current Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum, curated by Jennifer Gately.
Statement
There are inherent mystical qualities that I find in peninsulas, mountains and caves. The top of a mountain is the closest one can come to the sky; the inside of a cave is the nearest to the earth's core; to reach the end of the peninsula one must traverse the land twice - once there, and once back. The end of a peninsula is as far as one can go. These earthly limitations lead me to question what happens if one goes farther. My work represents visually what this proposition might look like. Current topics of interest share common themes of unseen energy in the universe: electro-communication of Amazonian eels, photosynthesis, auras, spiritual writings by the eighteenth century Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, These concepts, along with landscapes found in an assortment of horror movies from the 1970's, inspire my recent work. Anna Fidler, 2006
Press Release
Check out this recent review of Anna Fidler's recent painting and collage exhibition: http://www.portlandart.net/archives/2005/12/anna_fidler_-_o.html#comments
|
Commission Work
|
Artist's Website:
|
|
|
|
