John Spriggins: A Contemporary Artist With Renaissance Ideals
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 11:00AM From Paper to Canvas
A reader, explorer, and instigator, Spriggins draws inspiration and ideas from everything that touches his world. He participates, but also observes the way external factors affect those around him. His latest series, Paper Dolls, was inspired by conversations he had with his four-year-old daughter about female images and how they alter the way women feel. It is a thought-provoking series and an evocative collection.
At first glance, each enormous bright canvas has montage of magazine cutouts that form a collage creation of an individual woman. His pieces run the gamut. There are large women, short women, thin women and curvy women. “This series explores how the media manipulates images of women to the point where they are not satisfied with themselves,” Spriggins said.
After reading and cutting out headlines and excerpts from numerous women’s magazines, he met with a group of women who discussed the various ways they view themselves and how the world perceives them. Many from the group described the get-together as therapeutic. After the meetings and numerous conversations, Spriggins incorporated their feedback and personalities onto each canvas, transforming each woman into thematic, thoughtful piece such as Could Your Man Be Gay?


