Artist Statement

My work utilizes painterly language and sculptural experimentation to explore a variety of themes and references, particularly in relation to consumer culture, contemporary landscape, and psychology. I am interested in the relationship between consumer references and psychological reactions to contemporary culture, which often expresses itself as a fractured, overwhelming, and oversaturated landscape. I gravitate towards bright, acidic colors that refer back to the language of advertisements, packaging, and products, and I often utilize repetition as a visual strategy. I’m interested in obsessive repetition as a means to reflect on a culture that is literally filled with things, both material and digital, and to explore the psychological implications of such system.

I often utilize installation or collage techniques to represent the complex and at times disorienting nature of these experiences. Though my work is often in conversation with the anxious and fragmented nature of our culture, I am also interested in the therapeutic qualities inherent to repetitive making and the meditative quality these acts can have. My work seeks to explore the ways we often attempt to find comfort, even while dealing with topics like stress, loss, and cultural excess. Ultimately, my work is an attempt to navigate through a complex landscape, one that is often stress-inducing and confusing, filled with webs of color or piles of objects, spilling out and repeating.

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Artist Biography

Bridget Purcell is a visual artist who lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. She earned a BFA in painting, drawing, and art history from Tyler School of Art and an MFA in Multi-Disciplinary Visual Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She has worked as an art educator for the Sam Fox School of Washington University and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and her work has been shown in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Rome, Italy.

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Education

2013
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
MFA

2008
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
BFA

2007
Study Abroad, Temple University Rome, Rome, Italy

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Awards & Honors

2012
McMillian Scholarship, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

2011
Graduate School of Art Scholarship, Washington University, St. Louis, MO

2009
Continuing Education Scholarship, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA

2008
Senior Painting Studio Award, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA

2004-2008
Temple University Academic Scholarship, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

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Professional Experience

2013
2D Design Teaching Assistant, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

2012
Drawing I Teaching Assistant, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Education Intern, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibitions

2013
Magnetic Highway, 1409 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO

MFA Thesis Exhibition, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MO

Tainted Love, Hinge Gallery, St. Louis, MO

2012
Parabola: Codices, Des Lee Gallery, St. Louis, MO

MFA First Year Exhibition, Des Lee Gallery, St. Louis, MO

2010
Upstairs Studio Artists Exhibition, Phoenix Village Art Center, Phoenixville, PA

Thanks.Frank, Stella Elkins Tyler Estate, Elkins Park, PA

Member Exhibition, Phoenix Village Art Center, Phoenixville, PA

Bridge St. Store Window Exhibition, Phoenix Village Art Center, Phoenixville, PA

2009
Upstairs Studio Artists Exhibitions, Phoenix Village Art Center, Phoenixville, PA

Canal Day Exhibition, Schuylkill Canal Lock House, Mont Clare, PA

2008
Upstairs Studio Artists Exhibition, Phoenix Village Art Center, Phoenixville, PA

Tile Fortune, Exclamation Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Superior Floor System, Exclamation Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Juried Student Exhibition, Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA

Syntax: Solo BFA Exhibition, Tyler Gallery, Elkins Park, PA

2007
Senior Painting Exhibitions, Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA

Festa di Roma Exhibition, Penrose Gallery, Elkins Park, PA

Temple Rome Student Exhibition, Temple University Rome, Rome, Italy