Margaret Murray

 First Time Art Party Participant

Purple Iris

Artist’s Website

margaret-stanton-murray.com

Artist’s Statement

Pattern and Play
In these photographs, I worked with the illusionary field of the photographic frame. The interplay between actual objects physically in the round and depiction of three dimensions can create a kind of optical illusion. Color, visual texture and pattern also confuse the eye so the “ground” keeps changing. My objective was to create a meshing of the subject and background. To focus on my game, I confined the theme to contain three elements: a background, a container and floral forms arranged in a centered, fairly symmetrical composition. It was fun to see what could happen within those parameters.

 
I enjoy constructing and inventing things to photograph. Although I have explored a variety of subject matter, all these investigations have consistently drawn me to an exploration of visual imagination and conceptual play.

About the Artist

I was born in the Borough of Queens, New York City, into a family of artists and grew up on Long Island. In the early 50s, my parents decided to take an extended vacation following in the path of my grandparent’s earlier (1930s) tour of our country’s national parks. As a child, I was surrounded by my grandfather’s paintings of those wonderful places and I looked forward to visiting them. After traveling through southern United States and up the West Coast, my folks decided it was pretty nice here. So they settled in Los Gatos and I attended Los Gatos High School for my senior year, becoming a bona fide Westerner ever since.
Making Art is my life’s passion. My background is basically grounded in making art and teaching. I obtained an MA in painting in the 60’s, an MFA in photography in 1994, both from San Jose State University. I have taught art in a variety of places and levels, including San Jose State University, Los Gatos High School, Gunderson High School, Gavilan College and most recently Cabrillo College. I am retired now and enjoy working in my studio in Corralitos, California.
My work has been exhibited at the San Jose Museum of Art, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Santa Cruz MAH, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, A.I.R. Gallery in New York City, Santa Cruz Art League, Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery, as well as Open Studios 2003,04,05,08 sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Arts Council.
My figurative murals concerned with breast cancer were shown at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Michigan, Jewett Gallery, San Francisco Main Library; Getty Gallery, Los Angeles Central Public Library; Tisch School of Fine Art Gallery, New York University; and the Cannon Building Rotunda, United States House of Representatives, Washington D.C. The murals also traveled with the Art.Rage.Us. Exhibition to the Glenbow Museum of Art at Calgary, Canada and the Pao Gallery in Hong Kong.
Room size installations dealing with breast cancer were exhibited at Works/San Jose Gallery, San Jose State University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and San Francisco Camerawork Gallery.

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