
Spotlight Artist
Nancy Morrow
West
Artist Statement
My work explores via parody the relationship between self-identity and culture, questioning through process, imagery, and form the politics of gender and visual representation, as well as my own sense of self. The concept of desire is central to the newest work, as seemingly harmless cartoons are juxtaposed with references to sexuality and reproduction, consumption of material goods, the lure of luxury, power, and control.
Using the language of conventional painting as well as images assembled from satirical interpretations of Freudian psychology, fairytales, junk science, popular culture, and my own life experience, I lace them together to form disjointed narratives. Pattern, marks, text, media, and images are built up, and then alternately exposed or encased, covered up or erased. Through this process, my aim is to evoke a metaphor of social ambivalence—an archive of yearning and doublespeak primed for excavation.
At its core, my work is about self-definition, but I feel it is also relevant on a generational level.
Artist's Additional works
Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections


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