| Terry Garrett Artist Statement: 
The focus for the newest work in this show is the concept of “home.” I moved “Up North” three years ago and after a twenty-five year residency in Minneapolis, the natural beauty and relative quietude of the woods is such a welcome change in environment. The move has prompted me to think about what the idea or concept of home means to me. Lots of questions have come to mind: What is home? Is it where you live? Is it where your family resides? Is it where your friends are? Is it just where most of your belongings happen to be at a given time? To probe a bit deeper, is one’s “spiritual” home in a place different from the physical structure of home? Pondering these questions, I found myself drawn to various images relating to this theme of home. Chairs, windows, and doors became comfortable compositional and symbolic elements for the work. A friend’s gift of old floor plans also seemed a compelling symbol. My use of avian imagery is a symbol for my family and friends, as well as a reference to another dimension in the concept of home; many birds have homes that can be thousands of miles apart. I feel many of my pieces are also full of “stories”. It is my hope that as you view these works you might find yourself forming your own stories or personal narratives in response to them, or, conjuring memories or your own thoughts about “home”. The collage medium I work in most often includes many elements. I use my own photographic imagery for the “snapshots” and the backgrounds that appear in some of my work. At times, I alter the photographs with the computer to achieve a particular feeling that I want to convey or to create a certain visual enhancement. I hand cut or tear the collage elements I use and enjoy the process of building up the different layers of a piece with these components into a pleasing, cohesive whole. The following quote from Rose Gonnella, an artist and author, really captures what I feel about collage: “Collage is a medium as comfortable with humor, wit and irony as it is with occasional nostalgia, anger, or even tragedy. If you want to know collage you have to take the time to read it. The medium does not reveal itself on the first layer. You’ll have to dig down.” Contact Information Email: tgarrett@bemidjistate.edu |
