Miranda Aschenbrenner is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at UBC Okanagan where she was the recipient of several scholarships and awards. The artist has been actively exhibiting her work since graduating including solo exhibitions in Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon and in many group shows throughout the Okanagan. Her work was featured in the exhibition, Exploring Voice, an exhibition of UBC-O third year painting at Gallery Vertigo in 2006. Aschenbrenner has also been active in the Kelowna arts community both teaching and speaking about her work.
Aschenbrenner's works are completed using acrylic paint applied to small overlapping pieces of wood. The result lies somewhere between painting and assemblage; on the cusp of two and three dimensions. This series of layered works is based upon an underlying grid pattern and are inspired by the artist's interest in astronomy and satellite images of outerspace. She uses splatters and washes to make reference to stars, nebulae and galaxies far away. It is immediately apparent that the artist is a strong formalist. She plays boldly with layers, colours and textures to create an ambiguous sense of depth and space. The result is an energetic visual effect that can feel both balanced and unsettling for the viewer.
These paintings consist of overlapping pieces of wood placed at ninety degree angles, with flat rectangles and expressive circles painted on them. I see the elements of my paintings as being on a grid system; they are able to slide back and forth and up and down. When arranging these elements, I slide them around until they feel right. I try to create compositions that are balanced and stable as well as dynamic and lively. I want to achieve a sense of contained energy, or a vibration of the individual pieces within their allotted space. (Aschenbrenner)
As a formalist, I am interested in shape and spatial depth. I work with rectangular and curvilinear forms and the spaces between them, using layers to create a sense of depth. A need to create order and rationality in my world informs my work. I have always been a linear person and experience my life as being a series of compartmentalized events. In my paintings, this presents itself in the form of the grid. (Aschenbrenner)
The work goes through several stages of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. At each point throughout this process the artist adds painted elements.
This process frees me from my own tendency to become preoccupied with details and perfection as I am forced to contend with the random shapes that are created by tearing and rebuilding. The grid structure is a strategy I have utilized to make sense of the chaos. This process allows me to draw on my logical and linear strengths, while forcing me to work quickly and accept the unintended. (Aschenbrenner)
The layering of objects with a tangible thickness creates a sense of suspension and weightlessness, as if the pieces are floating. Simultaneously there is a tension between the layers that lends the paintings a feeling of vibration.
I want the viewer to be drawn into the paintings, experiencing both the weightlessness and the energy.
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