Tracie Noles-Ross: Tales from the Brambly Thicket

reception to be held April 2 from 5-7 pm

Artist Statement

The challenges and contradictions of this modern age are always in the back of my

mind as I work. Cultural pressures, political drama, algorithms, automation —and now a

pandemic are changing our relationship to the planet and each other. The process of

making feels like a hopeful, restorative act in these complicated times. The driving force

behind my creative process is the idea that the past cannot be buried. Nothing can be

thrown away. There is no away. I am drawn to the neglected and forgotten objects we

toss aside and through the process of re-creation, ghosts, bad dreams, and bogeymen

are confronted. Discarded and forgotten objects are charged with a new purpose,

encoded with healing stories and used to encourage a shift in perspective. Through this

redirection of energy and the transformative alchemical processes of photography,

drawing, collage, and assemblage, I weave stories, braiding themes of memory, place,

identity, community and environmental issues. The reconfiguration process disguises

the object’s original form and purpose and brings forward new narratives in a poetic

manner. I work to make these new pieces meaningful through transformation.