Tea
January 11- February 23, 2008
Opening Reception Friday January 11, 2008 6-9 PM
Bridget Conn, "Grace Remembered", Mixed Media Installation, 2008.
Bridget Conn
Artist Statement
Ritual is a means of elevating the importance of simple gestures and observations. One's senses are heightened, and actions are pared down to only those most vital. Every decision in ritual is imbued with an intent. I use ritual in my art as both a working method, and a subject of exploration. What rituals are a part of my life? What traditions have I inherited, adopted, or invented?
I believe in intuition, that knowledge will be psychically gathered where facts fail or are lost. My history travels through my veins, even though I can’t read it. It communicates through the act of collecting, an act that I cannot always interpret with logic.
I may not know the stories of my ancestors, but I know historically what the women of my family did in their daily lives. This includes the traditional arts of cooking, cleaning, and sewing, amongst others. I question why the nature of their work became associated with inferiority. Are the duties termed “women’s work” intrinsically less important? Or was that stigma applied in the face of their subjugation to that role? I find I am increasingly drawn to the act and concept of cooking and baking, but under the guise of these actions representing powerful esoteric knowledge, akin to casting a spell.
Collecting can be distilled to observing. Birds at my feeder, trees I grew up with never knowing their names, fruits I never tasted, cycles and seasons I depend on are all part of these observations. I bring all of these things together in my personal alchemy in hope of creating order, understanding, and magic in the mundane.
Bridget Conn |
215 W Church Street :: Swainsboro, GA 30401:: 706.254.3456 |
Juried Exhibitions
|
Looks Good on Paper: Spruill Gallery, Atlanta, GA (6 – 9/07) Divine Inspiration: GalleryRFD, Swainsboro, GA (6/07) Some Assembly Required: Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (6 – 7/07) Bloodlines: Family in Name and Practice: Juror’s Choice, GalleryRFD, Swainsboro, GA (3/07) 1 for 100: OBJEX Gallery, Macon, GA (12/05) 42nd Annual Juried Exhibition: Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA (4/05) The Human Condition: Davidson County Community College, Lexington, NC (1 – 5/05) Relative: Photographing Domesticity: ATHICA, Athens, GA (9 – 11/04) From Dusk Till Dawn: Rites, Ritual and Symbolism: Caladan Gallery, caladangallery.com (11/04) American Experience 2002: Associated Artists of Winston Salem, NC (11/02) Photo III:Merit Award, Jan Dempsey Arts Center, Auburn University, AL (10/01) |
Group Exhibitions |
SPESE Faculty Show: River Club, SCAD, Savannah, GA (10/07) Works from HMC Residencies, 2006-07: Congress Center, Balatonfured, Hungary (8/07) Multiplicity: Three Cities Group, Contemporary Arts Exchange, Macon, GA (3/07) Welcome Home: Stillmoreroots Group, 114 West Main, Swainsboro, GA (9 – 11/06) 30 Miles South: Stillmoreroots Group, Fire House Gallery, Louisville, GA (5/06) Where Main Streets Meet: Stillmoreroots Group, Ty Stokes Gallery, Atlanta, GA (4/06) Art About-From-For Nature: Traveling Exhibition: Gongju, Pusan, Suwon, S. Korea (9 – 12/05) Stillmoreroots at the Portal Turpentine Festival: Portal, GA (10/05, 06) Swainsboro Local Artists: Kalmanson Gallery, Swainsboro, GA (7/05 – 07) Art Educators’ Invitational: Hoag Student Center Gallery, North Georgia College and State University, Dahlonega, GA (2 – 4/05) Stillmoreroots 1.9.05: Kalmanson Gallery, Swainsboro GA (1/05) Gathering: Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA (9 – 12/04) Art Papers Annual Auction: Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, GA (2/04 – 07) Stillmoreroots 1.9.04: S&L Gallery, Savannah, GA (1/04) Stillmoreroots at DK Arts: Statesboro, GA (8/03) UGA Photo Retreat Exhibition: Broad Street Studio 2, Athens, GA (4/02) Threaded: Piedmont College, Demorest, GA (11/01)
|
Solo Exhibitions |
Modern Altars: Blackbridge Gallery , Georgia Coll. & State Univ., Milledgeville, GA (9 – 10/07) Dinner Table Stories: Art Lab, Art Museum of the University of Memphis, TN (8/07 – 11/07) Memory Womb: Peacock Gallery, Middle Georgia College, Cochran, GA (11/06 – 1/07) Alchemical: Augusta State University Fine Arts Gallery, Augusta, GA (8 – 10/06) Recipes for Ritual: Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, GA (2 – 3/06) Reliquary: Elsewhere Artist Collaborative, Greensboro, NC (6/05) How to Eat an Apple: Piedmont College, Demorest, GA (10/04) Australia Spoken and Silent: Hot Corner, Athens, GA (6/04) Recent Artworks: The Winery , Athens, GA (5/01) Recent Photographs: The Neutral Ground, New Orleans, LA (4/99) |
