Artist Statement

In my work, I use materials from daily life, objects that have cultural associations and points of reference for viewers. I explore the tension between the cerebral concerns of minimalism and an investigation of humanity: emotional, spiritual, symbolic, and narrative. At its core, the work is a meditation on entropy, time, loss, decay, renewal, and survival. My background in painting informs my interest in the materiality of paint and how its physical properties can be explored beyond two dimensions. The artwork changes with time; it is a mirror that invites viewers to consider their own mortality. Materials off-gas, break down and decay, just as our own bodies do. My newest body of work, Vanitas, explores these themes in dialogue with 17th-century Dutch still life painting. My background in painting informs my interest in the materiality of paint and how its physical properties can be explored beyond two dimensions. The artwork changes with time; it is a mirror that invites viewers to consider their own mortality. Materials off-gas, break down and decay, just as our own bodies do. I ask the viewer to feel raw and vulnerable and to delve into their own emotional landscapes.

Artist Bio

Annie Farrar was born in Wheeling, West Virginia and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee. She earned her BFA in Painting in 2004 from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her MA in Museum Studies in 2009 from the George Washington University. Annie is a Baltimore artist whose process-oriented work is a meditation on decay and renewal, and works as the outgoing loans registrar at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. She has exhibited and has work in private collections throughout the east coast and southern United States.