Margaret Buchanan
The Quiet

August 26 - September 17, 2022

Oil Painting

Artist Statement

Painting, for me, is a place of agitation and excitement mixed with utter calm and joy. Whether I am standing alone in a grassy field or in a dark room late at night lit only by the ambient light from the street or the half-light of an unseen lamp, these seemingly opposite sensations are at work.

I am responding to composition, light, color, space, and texture, and how those elements orchestrate our everyday moments. My paintings rarely include figures, but rather suggest their presence—perhaps a space where someone is about to enter or has just left, the liminal spaces between people, the aftermath of human activity.

The Quiet articulates a dynamic space, one that negotiates many states of being to create a sense of place.

Biography

A book artist, painter, and designer, Margaret Buchanan divides her working life between painting and her graphic design business, Buchanan Design. She studied graphic design and painting at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, where she earned a BFA with honors. She also studied painting at the Leo Marchutz School of Drawing and Painting, in Aix-en-Provence, France. She has taught graphic design in the Communication Arts Department at VCU, and her paintings and books have been exhibited across the US and Canada. One of her books, First Impression: A China Diary, was included in the AIGA’s annual 50 Books | 50 Covers and is a part of the Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection.

Website: www.margaretbuchanan.com