This newest exhibition, Ongoing, is a combination, a continuation and an opportunity to expand the ideas of my anxious circles series. However, this work is more than a continuation, it is a push to understand this need to paint and draw circles. And, in this work the audience became even more important than before. I want these pieces to draw in the viewer with contrast, textured details and dancing shapes. Each shape wants and needs to be in dialogue with the next shape. I have taken every opportunity in each piece to understand how each form relates to the other. I have worked and reworked the composition over and over again. This solo exhibition is about relationships, loss and the ongoing journey.
My work is consistently about loss, reconciliation and my relationship with God. The writings of C. S. Lewis has inspired much of my work, including this body of work. Lewis' book, A Grief Observed was a major influence for ongoing. In his book, he writes of loss, love and continuing to live without the love of his life. He writes about humans being like circles who touch and complete each other. The way C. S. Lewis writes about his loss and the great love he shared with another person, holds a truth that I want to experience in my own life. I want that kind of openness with others. The circles dance about searching for each other, hoping to be transformed by love and truth, even if loss is inevitable. This work has also been inspired by Gustav Klimt, Sonia Delaunay and the collection of Russian Icons that are part of the permanent collection at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. The palette was highly influenced by the Russian Icons, while the shapes and sense of play came from the works of both Klimt and Delaunay. 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. Her studio is currently located in Eugene, Oregon.