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Vickie ByronPainter
Vickie Byron earned an MFA degree from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1981 and a B.F.A. degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1978. Since then, she has been active in her studio practice, participating in a number of shows. Recently, her work has been included in the exhibitions: "Postcards from the Edge" Visual Aids Benefit at James Cohan Gallery, NY (2007), "Secrets of Queens" at Local Project, Long Island City, NY (2007) and "The Field" at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, NY (2007). Her work was discussed in articles published by Artspeak (Vol. VIII, No.21, July 1, 1987), The Capital (March 1986) and Poughkeepsie Journal (November 1, 1985). Her work is in the collection of Image Communications, Inc., NY. Artist Statement of Cemetery Series
Vickie Byron resides in Richmond Hill, NY. If you would like more information on her work, including images from her current and past shows please visit www.vickiebyron.com or email her by clicking here.
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These paintings of death and regeneration are based on cemeteries in Queens. I am interested in funerary statues that evoke human ideals, and burial grounds that archive life to make a public display of personal loss. My paintings portray human resilience, isolation, mortality, myth, and stereotype. Idealized woman is on a pedestal, iconic man
draws a concrete sword, and granite hands offer futile prayers. In my paintings, the figures vacillate between stone and flesh, emphasizing the transient nature of life. Circular compositions represent life's evolutionary cycle, and rhythmic patterns of ivy and palm suggest victory over death. I make up the faces that years have worn away, and draw damaged angels with missing parts—lost and broken, they are metaphors for age and the passing of time.