Pathways

March 6 – 29, 2020

Stephanie Garmey creates imagery inspired by her collection of natural objects, materials, and taxidermy animals. Her meditations on nature explore a variety of media: constructions and installations, book arts, painting, cut paper, embroidery, encaustics, wood, glass, drawing, and light. In Pathways, Garmey creates tableaus of animals’ habitats from around the globe, inspired by these animals’ instinctual flow with the rhythms of their ecosystem. Each tableau incorporates a book structure that suggests the innate encyclopedic knowledge of nature (migratory maps, daily paths, flora, and other fauna) that guides each animal’s place in the world. All of these animals are impacted by humans’ lack of reverence for the balance of nature and (indeed) for our planet. By contrast, these extraordinary animal tableaus link artifacts of human origin with the animals’ natural worlds, reminding us viscerally of our ancient roots—a positive, fruitful acknowledgement of animal power and our own harmony with nature.

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Stephanie Garmey has received individual artist’s grants from the Maryland State Arts Council in Crafts and Painting and the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture in Painting. Garmey teaches in the Drawing and General Fine Arts Departments at the Maryland Institute College of Art, teaching Mixed Media Book Arts, Nature Drawing, and Cut Paper 2D to 3D. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting, in 1995, where she studied with Grace Hartigan. She has an MA in Painting from Purdue University in Indiana and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Garmey lives and works in Baltimore, MD.