Maggie X On View Gallery
I use to love flying. But eventually, if you fly enough, you have that one flight where you’re pretty sure you’re going to die. It might be because the plane hits a sudden downdraft, or some white knuckle turbulence, perhaps it’s a dark silent moment in the middle of it all where you look at the stranger sitting by you and see that they think they’re going to die too.
These little welded buckets of tin that we trust to move above the clouds. It’s unfathomable how we even get to be up that high, like some big magic trick. Coming up through the storms and lightning and through the mist until you rise above the cloud line, finally, the earned peaceful journey.
I’d love to tell you that I went to Maggie’s studio and got to interview her in person, but telling you that would be a lie. Instead, I had to leave on a jet plane to attend a family funeral.
And I may not have gotten to go to Maggie’s studio, but I did spend a week with her paintings. We curate shows well in advance and so I was able to look at them on my airplane-mode phone. And they brought me comfort. As Maggie states, her paintings are an overview of the landscape. They are beautiful and grounding, layered and colored of earth and ancient rivers. Reminders of when you first start rising through the atmosphere and look down upon the stitched landscapes scattered with familiar greens, blues and browns. And among the clouds and stars and heavens, they made me miss the fields below.
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Q.) For this series, what outside influences, besides visual artwork, were in your orbit?
A.) The main influence for this series has been landscapes, but not just typical landscapes with a horizon line, but also landscapes viewed from above. Many of us have seen this view in pictures from space shuttles or gotten glimpses of it themselves on an airplane, but I feel like many times it goes unnoticed for how magnificent it is. As an ode to this beauty, I use the combination of these two landscape perspectives to inspire the composition and line-work in my paintings.
Q.) What lesson, if any, have you learned from this series?
A.) For this series in particular, I have learned a lot about the use of isolation in my work. I started noticing more and more of my pieces having a lot of white space around it. I liked this look and began to focus on why I do this. I think that it is partially a result of painting from a birds-eye view. When I paint like this there is not top or bottom until the piece is finished. I don't feel the need to weigh the "bottom" down like a typical landscape painting. Isolation also helps to direct the viewer to the point, there are no distractions, just what I want them to see. This allows them to focus in on the details of the piece.
Q.) What research do you do before you start painting?
A.) I spend a lot of time gathering influence from other artists and the world around me but much of my research is done through my painting process. With every painting I attempt to step further out of my comfort zone in order to learn something new. I am experimenting and researching new ways of doing things. Whether is be a lesson in which colors work together, how a certain technique turns out, or what is the best paint to water ratio for a certain amount of transparency. This process is where I gather most of my knowledge.
Q.) How do you balance your professional life with your creative life?
A.) I have always found this balance difficult because I have a full time job as well as painting on my plate. At the beginning of the year, I wrote down a few artist intentions for myself. I wanted to paint three times a week, research other artists, go to art galleries and/or museums once a month, etc. Although I have not always followed through with all of these intentions, I have them posted where I can see them every day to remind myself of them. I do the best I can, but life doesn't always allow for me to get everything on my list checked off and I've come to realize thats okay as long as I am making an attempt. I remind myself that the #1 reason I do this is for myself and I only have to do as much as I want.