Groundwork is a thirty-three foot drawing that maps a journey in pencil on paper. This linear map requires the participant to physically travel through space in order to see the visual representation of the journey. It is a spiritual journey, as well, beginning with imagery that is familiar and safe, but quickly plunging into a dark and more forbidding place, finally ending up in a state of altered reality.

The raw and immediate response of graphite pencil on paper reflects the process of all my work; whether it is my mix media collage on paper, or my sculptural or installation work. Ripped paper, found object, and clay as well as pencil on paper all give evidence of the human touch. These are not multi-step processes, but processes that catch and retain the energy of the artist in its most raw state. Groundwork crosses the boundary between drawing and installation. The shape and scale of the work hints at object as well as representation, it is a map, thereby questioning whether it is actually drawing as sculpture. In a world where space is limited and refuse a problem, the simplicity of two materials, pencil and paper, and portability, the idea that an installation can be rolled up and carried under one's arm, fits my idea of responsible art making.

All of my work is about humans, specifically human response to nature, human impact on nature, human dependency on nature, and the dance between humans and the natural world. From the spiritual impact of losing oneself down a wooded trail, to photographing the migrating birds that died of concussion and broken necks from impact with man made structures, to collecting old Christmas trees from trash piles to create an artificial forest, the work explores that relationship of mankind and the environment. The work appears to be that of an environmental artist, it is not, it is about ourselves, but ironically ends up evidence of how intertwined and inseparable we are from what we call nature or the environment.

 

born: 1957, Greenwich, Connecticut

education

Florida International University, MFA, 2004
Florida International University, BFA, 2000

selected awards/honors

2004 Betty Laird Perry Purchase Award, MFA Exhibition, The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida
2003 Honorable Mention, Hollywood All Media Juried Biennial (juried), Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
2003 Best in Show, Annual Student Exhibition (juried), The Art Museum at FIU, Miami, FL
2002 Best in Show, Annual Student Exhibition (juried), The Art Museum at FIU, Miami, FL

selected publications

Magnitude SEVEN 2006, volume 13, pgs; 30-35, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center
MaeX ArtBlog, 05,December, 2004
Miami New Times, A Fine Sense Of Place, pg. 43, Alfredo Triff, December 23, 2004
New Times Broward/Palm Beach, Art, pg. 35, Michael Mills, June 5-11, 2003

selected solo or two-person exhibits

2006 Phototaxis, Deluxe Arts, Miami, Fl
2005 Gretchen Scharnagl: Installation, The Art Gallery, Broward Community College South Campus, Pembroke Pines, FL

selected group shows

2007 Project Space at ART MIAMI
2006 Magnitute SEVEN, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
2005 Omniart3 2005 (by invitation), Design District Warehouse 1, Miami, FL
2004 Omniart 2004 (juried), Design District Warehouse3, Miami, Florida