Big Girls in Rogue

Rogue Gallery and Art Center
 40 South Bartlett Street
Medford, Oregon 97501

August 11 - September 22, 2023

Artist Reception
Friday, August 18th
5:30 pm - 8 pm 

​Big Girls in Rogue includes the large triptych, Big Girls, the nine pieces of Bad Air and The Three Ladies. This exhibition includes five triptychs, each set relies on the three women to convey their particular story. Big Girls is about confronting and exposing the negative response to conformity. While Bad Air is about the body's negative response to the toxic exposure to hypocrisy. The Three Ladies are stuck in the dismay of isolation. While each body of work may seem different in concepts, what they have in common is me. 

Each piece is a self-portrait. I am both the model and muse for each drawing. In some of the pieces I am fat and disappointed, while in other drawings I am stoic and despondent. But no matter the expression or mark on the page, each woman is me, the artist. This work is not about ego or some egotistical search, rather these pieces are a diary for me. I don’t keep a diary, I have no interest in someone finding my writings about my life or what I really think about them. The fictional character, Bridget Jones, stated to Mr. Darcy, “It’s only a diary. Everyone knows diaries are full of crap.” She ain't wrong. So these drawings are as much of a diary I can keep. This diary hides much of what I really think, but enough to connect with others. I have been amazed with how some viewers see the work. Some see the disappointment I’m trying to convey, while others see a strength that I didn’t know even existed in the work. There is a shared experience when I talk with others about these pieces. Some folks are disappointed in life, while others have this intangible hope in the future. I like discussing what others see in my work, I like this connection and sense of belonging. 

​All the drawings reference various sources that include direct observation and photographs of my body. The major influences for all of these works are Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin, Jim Dine and Fernando Botera. The cartoonish quality of each woman is the inspiration of Lisa Yuskavage and John Currin. Fernando Botera’s work, especially his large sculptures, inspired the thickness of the bodies and the curvature of the line. While Jim Dine was the catalyst for continuing to draw big with charcoal. 

M. V. Moran earned her MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Moran has a BFA in Painting from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. After several years of working at the UO in Student Services, she resigned from her position and began her dream of becoming a professional artist. Moran has exhibited prolifically throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 2020, the Big Girls and Bad Air series exhibited in a solo exhibition at Coos Art Museum. Moran is also an Artist-in-Residence for the Lane Arts Council and has taught at Bushnell University in Eugene, Oregon.