Andy Mauery

artist, installation, hair

I find interest in works that are unheroic: quieter, contemplative, more likely to offer questions than provide answers. My material choices often reference the body: hair and hair-like fibers, wax, and paper. Our bodies, and these materials, record information--some of it encoded in the very substance and stuff, while other evidence is a memoir of nurture (or lack thereof) within the context of nature.

To many, these approaches in themselves define my work as, "feminine," which makes quite a bit of sense in that I am tapping directly into the historical, female lineage inherent in the histories of craft and art. I am interested in how social constructs of gender affect/influence environmental degradation.

My drawings, objects, and installations tend to be organized into groupings, each grouping an exploration/investigation of recurring subjects or problems (Extinction, Mortality, Boundaries...) I find that years spent wrestling around with material solutions and sketches for huge, mortal predicaments has led me to find unexpected examples of humor, and sometimes pathos.