Artist Statement: Mindy Nierenberg

Objects from the past, discarded or separated from owners of origin, tell countless stories. Having been an educator of civic engagement for many years, my desire to address societal injustice flows into my artwork. Yet I am also drawn to express stories that are intensely personal- creating narratives of memories of childhood seen through the lens of an adult working through the process of psychoanalysis. Some memories are right at the surface, waiting to be examined and torn apart and others have faded into a hazy obscurity, often moving the realm of the unconscious into physical objects. I sometimes weave these veiled images into my views on social issues while maintaining a formal aesthetic that portrays time, memory, and beauty that can be found in the darkest of times. In 1969, Carol Hanisch wrote in Feminist Revolution “The personal is political”. I find that to be true in my work, which addresses women’s issues through the most personal of narratives.

In my art, I create a language that is clear to me but is communicating to the audience a story that is open to interpretation. I use mixed media, combining printmaking, photography, digital manipulation, encaustic, embroidery and text with found objects to evoke associations that resonate and challenge. I am especially drawn to the detritus of society: that which has been forgotten, ignored, or discarded. Rusted metal, bits of lace, old documents, and moldy books call to me and form the cement that connects the imagined with a new physical reality. In our consumer-based society, refuse is everywhere; discarded objects fill rummage sales, junk stores, garage sales, back alleys, and sidewalks. My art makes use of the smallest fraction of these found objects, rescuing them to tell a new story woven of the past and the present.