Ms. Muirhead begins with a canvas, paper or plywood surface and laboriously applies plaster, acrylic, oil, ink, paper and/or graphite layers. This process achieves a distinctly rich, subtle and shifting texture. The viewer senses the uncertainty and contradiction inherent in memory and framing, and Muirhead’s reluctance to commit to a definite and final moment. The physicality of the work reflects the visceral experiences of living. Pieces are often characterized by a sense of nostalgia or ethereal presence.
“I tend to begin pieces or series with questions and ideas that I’m considering, and they infuse the process in some way. I’m usually wrestling with ambivalence; ideas on maternity, race, family, internal tethers, language, constructs, freedom, exclusion… they are all continually informing my work. The process of mark-making is an act of inquiry for me. I am pursuing the clarity and unveiling of each piece’s truth.”
“The intricacies and anomalies that occur with persistent layering are deeply compelling. I love how the viewing is affected by the light, one’s mood, perspective and experience. I am interested in the tension, in life and in art, between change and permanence; and why we reject or internalize particular beliefs”.