Carrie Moyer’s history of social activism informs her approach to painting, which marries the graphic flatness of her earlier agitprop posters with the more sensual material qualities of the medium. Her playful compositions, layered surfaces, and fluid forms—freely oscillating between abstraction and representation—speak not only to her commitment to feminist political theory, but also to her deep investment in art history. Expanding on processes common to Color Field painters, her practice involves drawing, pouring, staining, rolling, sprinkling, and mopping. Each canvas begins with a series of collages where the artist refines the structure of her configurations. At the same time, Moyer also employs strategies and techniques found in graphic design. Achieving multidimensional effects through gradation, transparency, and shadows, Moyer builds her images layer-by-layer, using thin veils of aqueous color, mirrored images, and outlined biomorphic forms. Her techniques obfuscate her paintings’ making to forward an unfettered, sensorial approach to looking—one divorced from the technical mechanics of construction.
Moyer studied modern dance at Bennington College before receiving her BFA from Pratt Institute, an MA in computer graphic design from New York Institute of Technology, and an MFA in painting from Bard College. Moyer’s work has been widely exhibited in one-person and group presentations, and the artist’s works are represented in prominent collections, including Birmingham Museum of Art; Des Moines Art Center; The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.
[excerpted from Alexander Gray Associates website: www.alexandergray.com]
