Bad Air in Eugene

Seen: A Regional Figurative Exhibit
Maude Kerns Art Center
Eugene, Oregon
February 21, 2025 - March 21, 2025
Opening Reception
February 21
5 pm - 7 pm

​The smallest triptych of the Bad Air series has been selected to exhibit as part of the Seen Exhibition at Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene, Oregon. The exhibit highlights figurative work of 54 artists whose work explores the human figure to tell a story. 

Bad Air consists of nine large charcoal drawings and is a continuation of the triptych, ​Big Girls. Each piece portrays a solitary female figure. Each woman is isolated in her own space. This work is about the trials of 2020. This work is also an examination of all the bad stuff we have all been breathing for years. ​These nine large women show the effects of negativity with their facial expression and awkward posture. They are isolated and frustrated.

My body, again, was used as the model for this work. This work was created during the time of Covid, the Oregon wildfires and social unrest. This work was made for the Coos Art Museum, specifically for the Vaughn Gallery. Location is an important part of my research. The space in which my work dwells is part of the process. I visited the museum, the City of Coos Bay, and Sunset Beach. I modeled on the beach and the surrounding areas. I was exhausted when I arrived. The photoshoot felt like an encapsulation of the trials of 2020. At first, I was disappointed with the images. However, I began to understand that my exhaustion had to be part of the work. Covid and other chaos of 2020 had affected me in ways I had not fully processed. It took me seeing images of myself, so unbelievably spent, to truly understand how to move forward with these nine women.

When I returned to my studio, I knew I wanted the work to be about the year we have all experienced. At the same time, I knew the work had to be a continuation of ​Big Girls i​ n order for the work to share space in the Coos Art Museum. The Oregon fires were raging, filling the valley where I live with smoke. Apocalyptic smoke. It was hard to think, let alone create. All over the news were warnings about breathing the toxic air. The bad air felt like a metaphor for the toxic atmosphere of our culture. I have been breathing the bad air of hypocrisy and lies. Sexism and racism hang over our country like a toxic cloud. This work confronts the bad air of societal injustices. Each piece illustrates an immediate reaction to the negativity of long term hardships and faulty constructs.
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The drawings reference various sources that include direct observation and photographs of my body. Three major influences for this work are Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin and Fernando Botero. The work takes on the abstraction and absurdity of Lisa Yuskavage and John Currin, while embracing the bigness of Botero.

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. Moran has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Art at Bushnell University in Eugene, Oregon and currently, is an Artist-in-Residence for the Lane Arts Council.