Baker Artist Portfolios

26  Peggy Fox

Artist Statement

I’m a storyteller.

I work in series; Images come from a library of my own photographs. The particular quality of the photographs is integral to my mixed media work on aluminum, as well as the digital works that incorporate my painted, combined and manipulated photographs.

My personal work grew out of a desire to personalize my photographs by manipulating and combining images that employ an eclectic subject matter varying from narrative to abstraction.

Throughout my years as an artist and a professional photographer, my work has been guided by two parallel concerns. As a  photographer I worked extensively for educational editorial and institutional  publications in the mid-Atlantic area. As a  photographer I worked extensively for educational editorial and institutional  publications in the mid-Atlantic region, while also engaging in several compelling documentary projects, working  primarily with black and white film.  Commercial practice demanded a high level of technical proficiency, pared with empathetic storytelling.

My personal work has been directed by a desire to push the boundaries of traditional photographic image making. This method allows me to merge distinct photographic elements with gestural brushwork, resulting in a singular surface that blurs the line between photography and painting. By layering, painting directly onto the aluminum panel, and integrating additional textures, I can create works that possess both visual complexity and tactile presence. This is the work that continues to engage me.

An example of this is the mural for The MTA platform art Johns Hopkins Hospital; a 10x200” mural , ”Lost In The Cosmos”; a ten foot by two hundred foot mural in porcelain enamel on steel. It features cows jumping over the moon, Superman, an elopement on the subway, and dancing among the galaxies.This hybrid approach to making images remains central to my work today. My intention was to have bored commuters, waiting for their trains,making up their own stories.