Medrie MacPhee reflects on the current situation while working on a new painting, Dark Matter, in her New York studio.
I have been in New York during the bankruptcy of the 70's, the AIDS crisis of the 80's, 9/11 and now Covid. What this pandemic has done to New York is profoundly different.
During this trying time I take some comfort in thinking about the artists who also lived through plagues/wars/inquisitions. Lived through them and continued to work - sometimes creating art about those subjects and some who envisioned better days. I do my best to be in the moment and let that inexplicable relationship between artist and "subject" take shape and place in my studio.
I am currently working on amongst other things this 8' X 10' painting titled "Dark Matter".
Dark matter is the invisible substance that cosmologists believe is holding the universe together. In fact, dark matter accounts for 85% of the universe - and it is believed to be the gravity force that holds the visible 15% in place (the entire solar system). This property is only a theory to explain how the ever-expanding universe can proceed without flying apart. It emits no light/reflection or shadow and there is no real understanding of its properties.
That mysterious force strikes me as being at the heart of where I and many other artists live - trying to hold our worlds together with whatever media is at hand.
- Medrie MacPhee
The Artist's Voice | Medrie MacPhee from Nicholas Metivier Gallery on Vimeo.
Attraction, 2018, oil and mixed media on canvas, 64 x 84 in.
Medrie MacPhee in a studio provided by the Bogliasco Foundation residency with her works on paper
Work on paper by Medrie MacPhee are featured in our current online exhibition, On Paper | Part I.
