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MAGGIE GOURLAY

Fiber, Paper / Book / Illustration, Printmaking, Sculpture / Installation, Visual / Media

My current body of work lies at the intersection of the natural world and domestic space. In one body of work, I use the trope of stylized wallpaper pattern to reflect upon our fraught relationship with nature and our increasing separation from it in modern life. In the series Wallpapers for a Warming World, plant motifs such as ferns are depicted for their soil remediation attributes, while other motifs reflect both domestic and invasive species. The battle for territory between the domestic and invasive is engaged in a wallpaper pattern intended for the beautification of domestic spaces, while also evoking the current march toward decreasing biodiversity. In another body of work, I cast paper from recycled former screenprints into new work, forming concentric circles that mimic the growth rings of trees and compose these rings into wall-mounted installations.

About the Artist

Maggie Gourlay works in screenprinting and papermaking to create both installation and two-dimensional work that explores the intersection of the natural world and domestic space. She is a recipient of DC Arts and Humanities Council art grants and other awards, and has had numerous solo and group shows with her work in several public and private collections. Gourlay is a current member of Sparkplug--sponsored by DC Arts Center--and Cultivate Projects, a platform for a contemporary redefinition of landscape. Gourlay received her MFA in studio art from Towson University where she specialized in screenprinting. Her interest in environmental issues has led her to researching natural dyes and the pigments derived from them as a means to both create a greener art practice and as a medium in her artwork--a formal expression of conceptual ideas regarding nature. Gourlay is represented in Maryland by Adah Rose Gallery.  

MAGGIE GOURLAY website View Website

Featured Work

Photos

A 20-piece installation of hand made paper cast from recycled screenprints and mounted on plywood rounds of varying circumferences.
Cast paper from recycled screenprints on plywood rounds of similar size in a row.
Screenprint monotype on paper, framed. Dandelion pattern with acrylic screenprint ink, and dandelion imagery screenprinted with natural pigments and binders.
Screenprint monotype on paper, framed. Invasive porcelainberry pattern screenprinted in acrylic ink; imagery of native Thoroughwort screenprinted in natural pigments (indigo and weld lake) and binders.
A 33-piece installation of hand-made paper from recycled screenprints on 1" deep plywood rounds of varying circumferences..
Detail of Growth Rings 1.

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