AIMÉE FARNET SIEGEL
Pendulumnew mixed media paintings
October 18 – December 16, 2023
Pull Quote
"My work explores connections whether it’s visually through linework or literally. And as I work, I enjoy shifting between very small and very large pieces, as I find each informs the other."
Biography
A I M É E F A R N E T S I E G E L | | | biography
[lives & works - New Orleans, LA ::: b. 1963 – New Orleans, LA]
Driven by her love of materials and process, New Orleans artist AIMÉE FARNET SIEGEL works with color, line, and form through the building and manipulation of paper, paint, and canvas. Siegel received her BFA from Louisiana State University and later studied at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. Her non-objective two and three-dimensional works swing from monochromatic to multicolored with painted and collaged line work creating pattern and shape.
Her work has been exhibited nationally in galleries, institutions, art fair, and alternative spaces nationwide. Most notably, in 2019 Siegel presented an independent site-specific installation in conversation with works in the international group show Hinge Picture at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans – concurrent with her premier solo exhibition at the gallery.
Siegel’s work appears in numerous public and private collections across the country. In 2020 she completed a 48-piece commission for the Four Seasons Hotel, New Orleans and most recently three pieces were acquired for the corporate collection of Morgan Stanley. Her work also appears in the collections of: Walda and Sydney Besthoff, Andrea Andersson and John Cable, Emily and Robert Clay, Dathel and Tommy Coleman, Jennifer and Dennis Lauscha, and Hy’s Steakhouse, Toronto.
Artist Statement
My work explores connections whether it’s visually through linework or literally, as in my series titled, Aimée and The Post Office.
In 2018, I mailed small unfinished works to close friends, collectors, and Instagram followers. Each was mailed with no protective envelopes, inviting scratches, rips and ink marks from my unwitting partner, the US Post Office. Having gone through the postal system, I felt the works were now finished. These surprise gifts were my way of connecting.
I push scale differences within bodies of work. And as I work, I enjoy shifting between very small and very large pieces, as I find each informs the other. However, living this new Covid normal, where I’m cut off from family and friends and my studio is now on my front porch, I feel the need to work small. Rather than connecting, I’m realizing my need to be insular. My works have become cocoon-like. And each feels like a puzzle I’m trying to solve.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2008–17 Ongoing education, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts
1984 BFA from Louisiana State University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Pendulum, Ferrara Showman Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2019 Principle of Uncertainty, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
UnHinge, Johnathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2018 The Space Between, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2016 Momentum and My Muse, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2013 No Hiding, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2012 Living on Stilts, Gallery 3001, Joey K’s Restaurant, New Orleans, LA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Thirty New Orleans Artists, The Second Story Gallery, presenting at New Orleans Healing Center, New Orleans, LA
Into the Blue: Artist Invitational, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
2017 Fivefecta, Degas Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2016 La Femme, The New Orleans Art Center, New Orleans, LA
2014 Imago Mundi: New Orleans Repatriation, Prospect.3 Adjunct, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Recent Works, The Georges Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2013 Louisiana Contemporary, Juried group exhibition, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
2009 Art in a Box, RHINO Contemporary Crafts, New Orleans, LA
2006 Group Show, Exhibited: The Gift Box, sculptural assemblages, Georges Art Gallery, Metairie Park Country Day School, New Orleans, LA
ARTIST RESIDENCIES, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
2018 Harpo Foundation, Inc., Grant recipient
2018, 2017 Directed Independent Study, Aimone Studio, Thomaston, MA
2017, 2016 Masters Level Independent Study, Steven Aimone, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Andrea Andersson and John Cable
Walda and Sydney Besthoff
Sheila Bosworth and Thomas B. Lemann
Dathel and Tommy Coleman
Robin and Bruce Crutcher
Pia and Malcolm Ehrhardt
Barbara and Biff Motley
Jim Mounger
Auseklis Ozols
By Commission
Although Aimee Farnet Siegel is not a portrait artist, she creates works that are imbued with the essence or spirit of a person, place, or memory she calls these commissioned works “spiritures."
Aimee begins each spiriture by coping photographs provided by her client—-individuals, family, friends, family homes, vacation memories, whatever it is that brings this person joy. She creates a collage base with these images then continues with paint and collage, allowing the images to guide and inspire her. Some works retain pieces and parts of the original photographs while in others, the original images get embedded within the work.
Whether the original images are seen or not seen in the finished art, each is imbued with the client’s spirit, giving it its unique character.
To commission a work by Aimée Farnet Siegel, email matthew@ferrarashowman.com.
