M. V. Moran Current Exhibitions

In the Time of Covid and Palm Springs

7/4/2024

Works in Progress

I am currently working on two bodies of work, In the Time of Covid and Palm Springs. Both series contain elements of my anxious circles-despondent spheres paintings. Both rely on the circle to represent feelings, emotions and the contradictions of dwelling in place. In the Time of Covid works also incorporate large figurative pieces. Again, I am the model, similar to my triptych, Big Girls and the nine-pieces of Bad Air.

My five foot frame extends to cover the seven foot tall panel, standing adhered as though a watchful mother. I am full of cautionary tales and whoas. I am an angry woman in this work. I am angry at ill behaving men running around the country as if fighting for good. But, who can fight a virus with fists and flags? I’m angry that a lovely woman I know has died because of the virus or has she died because of the men? I’m unsure. In all this chaos, I stand firm and alone.

Then, there is Palm Springs. My Palm Springs series consists of six paintings full of color and fat shapes, fat with love. I have been to the city of Palm Springs, nestled in the Coachella Valley, twice now. That dry desert town with its golden sand and blue pools contains the ongoing vibe of the crooner. You can’t help but listen to Frank Sinatra in your car. I love the dry air and ease of the small city. The uptown and downtown parts of Palm Springs are walkable. On your way to the Palm Springs Art Museum, a gargantuan Marily Monroe with a flirty smile and upturned dress invites you to stop and say Hello. Everyone does. She is the muse and the mistress of that pedestrian block. All my irritation and irritability of the past Covid years seemed to dissipate in Palm Springs. The heat killed the annoyance of past grudges and replaced it with something that felt like forgiveness. I’m not sure who I forgave when I walked in the desert or where all that anger went. Maybe anger and grudges cannot live in the desert, and for me, that is good.

Three Shows in Three Cities

11/9/2023

This Fall three M. V. Moran paintings are part of three separate exhibits in Oregon.
The exhibitions are located in Roseburg, Eugene and Portland.

The melancholic painting, three, from the stained glass disappointment series is exhibited at Umpqua Valley Arts in Roseburg, Oregon from November 7th - December 15th.

The luscious painting, Went to the Desert, from the Palm Spring series is part of the group show at Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene, Oregon from November 15th - December 17th.

The curvaceous, Us, from the stained glass disappointment series is exhibited at PNCA in the Alumni Show, UNLIMITED. This is the sixth Annual PNCA Alumni Salon Exhibition on view at the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design from October 5th - November 11th.

Image: three, acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 24"x48", 2023.

Big Girls in Rogue

7/23/2023

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 Botero. The cartoonish quality of each woman is the inspiration of Lisa Yuskavage and John Currin. Fernando Botero’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.

Bad Air in PDX

10/28/2022

Paragon Gallery
PCC Cascades
815 N Killingsworth Street
Portland, Oregon

Exhibition
Friday, December 2, 2022 - Saturday, January 28, 2023

Artist Reception
Thursday, December 8, 2022
5 pm - 7 pm
Artist Talk
6 pm

Gallery Hours
Wednesday - Friday
Noon - 7 pm
Saturday
Noon - 5 pm
Gallery Closed December 23, 2022 - January 2, 2023

The Bad Air series consists of nine large charcoal drawings and is a continuation of the triptych, Big Girls. Just like Big Girls, each piece portrays a female figure and the contrast of marks and black charcoal on a field of white paper add a dramatic distinction between the body and the space that surrounds each woman. The indeterminacy of place suggests confinement and isolation.

These nine large women show the effects of negative space with their facial expressions and their awkward posture. They are isolated, quarantined and frustrated. My body, again, was used as a model for this work. However, for these drawings, I availed myself as surrogate, stand-in and muse. These women are the exploration of annoyance, restlessness and frustration. These women were created during the time of Covid, Oregon WildFires and political turmoil. This work was made for the Coos Art Museum, specifically for the Vaughn Gallery. I enjoy creating site specific work. The space in which my work dwells is part of the process. Location is an important part of my research. I visited the museum, the City of Coos Bay and Sunset Beach. I modeled on the beach, in the ocean and the surrounding areas. I was exhausted when I arrived. At first I was disappointed with the images and then I began to understand that my body, my mind, my soul were bone tired. Covid, the political unrest had affected me in ways I had not known before. 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 this tiredness and loneliness. At the same time, I knew the work had to be a continuation of Big Girls in order for all the work to share space in the Coos Art Museum. The Oregon fires had begun and the valley where I live was filled with smoke. Apocalyptic smoke. It was hard to think, let alone create. And all over the news were warnings of hazardous air quality, in other words, bad air. And, then I realized I have been breathing bad air for a long time. I have been breathing the bad air of hypocrisy, the bad air of hatred, the bad air of harassment, neglect, abandonment, prejudice and lies. So this work is about facing the bad air, and moving forward to peace, justice and truth.

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 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.

M. V. Moran

Bad Air in Roseburg

3/11/2022

Bad Air in Roseburg

Umpqua Valley Arts
1624 W Harvard Avenue
Roseburg, Oregon 97471

April 1, 2022 - June 3, 2022

Opening Reception
April 1, 2022
3 pm - 7pm

M. V. Moran

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