August 29 - October 14, 2022
From the artist:
“Bio:
Lori Solley received a BFA from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2- Dimensional art and an MFA from Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth, TX with an emphasis in Printmaking. Her work consists primarily of combinations of drawing, printmaking, and collage techniques. She currently works as a full-time instructor at Kilgore College. She is a native of Gladewater, TX and currently lives in East Texas with her husband, two kids, and many pets. Artist Statement Choices are inherent to daily life as are compromises. I make decisions and compromises daily as a mother, a wife, an educator, and as a person in order to maintain some semblance of an identity while trying to successfully nurture others. However, I believe that what is perceived as truth can often be an illusion of some ideal that is forced upon us. There are parts of myself that are stifled and controlled purely based on which identity I inhabit. The demands of maternal perfection in the context of both past and contemporary society are grueling and exhausting and for me personally disguised by a well- engineered façade. (Which I often fail to maintain.) My drawings are an examination of the many roles that are often inhabited and how they influence my identity. I use images of myself, particularly my hands, as the commonality between self and caregiver, mother and artist, and the endless struggle of feeling guilty or being socially isolated with each choice that is made. While using traditional drawing materials but also including alternative options and only allowing a small part of myself to be on display; I am trying to create contrast between the choices and the compromises that either I make or that are made for me. The inclusion of embroidery as the last element within my drawings limits perfection and frees me from the feeling of making the perfect mark. Once a stitch is made it cannot be undone. I have to commit and move forward. The combination of traditional and non-traditional materials, multilayered substrates, figurative imagery, and the interaction of soft and hard-edged value influence the depiction of these illusions that are created. The use of shadow and light, craft material and traditional material, geometric and organic imagery creates the chasm between these complex inner truths and the artifices created for one’s self. The collages are made to highlight women that maybe didn’t have the opportunities that I have to shape and define my role and identity. I have begun to develop the notion that within most components of my life I am all of these roles at once and occasionally, none of them, but who am I without them.”
Reception: September 1, 2022 | 6–8 pm
UT Tyler Fine Arts Complex Gallery
3900 University Boulevard
Tyler, 75799 Texas
903-566-7237
Get directions