Artist Statement
Inspired by photography's unique role in negotiating what we believe to be real or true, my work explores the nature of representation and the exchange of influence between visual perception and experience. For me, the coexistence of contradictions marks the moment when apparent realities collide. When we recognize that something is both askew and right on the mark, confusion and/or enlightenment usually follow. Humor and irony often color my work as I play with visual miscues and the deceptive nature of appearances. I’m interested in investigating how the visual image transmits information and values, infiltrates our consciousness, occupies our memories and influences our understanding of the world we live in.
Process Statement
For both "Representations" and "Nature Morte" I create photographic documents of three-dimensional drawings by whitewashing ordinary and familiar objects and then drawing directly onto their surfaces with charcoal. I then photograph the resulting hybrids with color negative film and enlarge the images in the darkroom.
Cynthia Greig is a visual artist living and working in metropolitan Detroit. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan in 1995, and an MA in art history from the University of Iowa with additional studies in filmmaking, and BFA in printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and is in the public collections of the Light Work Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, George Eastman Museum, Smith College Museum of Art as well as private and corporate collections. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Greig was one of 9 visual artists to receive an Artist Fellowship from the Kresge Foundation in 2015. Also an avid collector of 19th and early 20th century photographs, with Cate Smith, Cynthia co-authored the book of photographs, Women in Pants: Manly Maidens, Cowgirls and Other Renegades, published in 2003 by Harry N. Abrams.
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