Artist Statement: of place, of time . . .

Michelle A. Hegyi, solo show

"of place, of time . . ."

July 29 -Sept 6, 2014

Opening Reception:
Friday, August 1, 7 – 10 pm

Artist Statement :

In this body of work of place, of time . . . , I was searching for the meaning of place and of time. It is so very personal for each individual, and I would like the works to speak for themselves, but I will make an attempt to explain what was going through my mind as I was making the work.

What feelings are evoked from special or ordinary places, depending not only on the place, but also on the particular time in one's life? What feelings are evoked from leaving a familiar place, from where one has lived for most of one's life? Is it the kind of life lived, the landscape, or the community, that is missed? What about the conflict of feeling the need to be in two places at once, of loved ones thousands of miles apart?

Even though I've taken tens of thousands of photographs as part of my artmaking, I tend not to incorporate them directly into my work, as I usually work abstractly, searching for a place or a feeling I did not know existed before. This is one of the few times one of my photographs has nudged its way into my work -- because of a special place and time that had meant a lot to me. This evolved into abstractions of my own feelings evoked by place and time. My hope is that the viewer finds in these works something which moves them, each in their own personal way.

-- Michelle A. Hegyi