“I don’t like to say I have given my life to art. I prefer to say art has given me my life” —
Frank Stella
April showers bring May flowers, but for our May Tiny Gallery, we’re bringing you collages by artist Ginny Merett. Merett’s show, WORDS, which opened virtually on the Jasper website on the 1st of the month, was so wildly popular, we sold out nearly half the show in the first 8 hours. In response to the overwhelming love, Merett has decided to add 12 new pieces to the show – learn more about her and preview the pieces below!
Merett grew up in a Denver, Colorado, household of musicians as the youngest of 3 children. Her mom was a pianist who taught lessons from the home, and her father was a trumpet player. “Music filled our house, but big band music was their favorite,” Merett recalls, “Mom was also artsy, always making something, and she inspired me to do the same.”
Merett’s family supported her art inclinations from a young age, providing her with lessons and supporting her freedom with various art materials. This led to her taking several art classes and electives throughout school, receiving an art education degree in college, and teaching art for 30 years.
This life rife with loving and making art has made Merett proud to call herself an artist since far before she started officially exhibiting her work a decade ago. “I agree with artist Frank Stella,” Merett quotes, “‘I don’t like to say I have given my life to art. I prefer to say art has given me my life.’”
In the past ten years Merett has been showing work, she has worked exclusively in collage. However, she dabbled and worked in many forms and mediums before finding home in collage. She focused on drawing and painting in undergrad, fiber arts and photography in grad school, and murals, watercolor, and pencils while teaching. Collage, though, allowed Merett to achieve something no other medium could.
“Collage allows me to use a simple material that looks polished when completed in a work of art, and my style in collage gives me a chance to create art that is playful and irrational because of the new characters I create,” she effuses, “I have a wide variety of materials to use and unlimited subjects, and besides that I just have a really good time doing it.”
As she puts her hands on different pieces and stitches them into a story, Merett finds herself drawn towards portraying human beings and their unique personalities, spirits, and bodies. These portraits are sometimes commissioned but mostly inspired from places in and around Merett’s life.
“I create portraits inspired by photographs in my grandma’s 1920’s photo album and by people I see around town and in popular culture,” she reveals, “The most fun for me is taking parts and pieces from pictures of popular culture’s “beautiful people” found in magazines and using them to create new personalities and characters.”
For her Tiny Gallery show, Merett continued on with her love for collage and people, putting together 25 stand-alone pieces made specifically for the show. The images range from bright, bold colors to multilayered neutrals; from repeating images to one striking set of eyes; from large pieces with mouths wide open to demure figures that ask you to come closer.
“I usually use text in my work but only for color and texture, not meaning, so for this show, I created works that used phrases taken from magazine text to describe each piece—I made each collage prior to finding the words,” Merett explains, “The theme of each collage is the human condition, and on an unintentional level deals with how I felt through 2020-2021. I hope people can relate to one of the pieces and generally understand my serious and often tongue-in-cheek message.”
This year, as for all of us, has presented challenges for Merett, who says she oscillated between motivated and withdrawn throughout 2020. She created art as a solace while mourning the safety and joy of being outside, as well as a good friend lost to the virus. She says that it was art and art events that were a continued light during this darkness.
“I have been so blessed to have my art during this time. I feel like it fed my soul, as always,” Merett intimates, “For those struggling to make art right now I suggest being gentle with yourself but keep showing up in your studio or work area. Reach out to other artists for fellowship and realize that you are not the only one feeling lackadaisical.”
Some particular lights among the dark included winning Honorable Mention in the 1593 Project at the Koger Center for the Arts and exhibiting her work alongside Jim Arendt and Gina Moore in the Alumni Art Exhibit at the UofSC’s SVAD. Merett was also one of the featured artists in Jasper’s pandemic project Sheltered 2020: A Collection of Visual and Literary Arts.
The largest support for Merett, a mother of two and grandmother of four, though, comes from her family, pandemic and beyond. “My greatest memory is working at my drawing table with my young kids playing around me,” Merett reminisces, “More times than not, these moments were tranquil and made me feel like I had the absolute best of both worlds.”
If you want to see how Merett has explored herself and the world around her, her show, WORDS, is up until May 31st. When this blog is posted, her new 12 pieces will have just been added to the show. You can peruse and purchase work 24/7 via the Jasper’s virtual Tiny Gallery: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery
During and after the show, you can find her art at her website www.ginnymerett.com and on Instagram (@ginnymerett) and Facebook (Ginny Merett Artist). You can also see her work locally around Lexington and Columbia, specifically at places like Land Bank Lofts on Hampton Street.
— Christina Xan