Tina Hirsig
Phone: 843 327-2361
Email: thirsig@yahoo.com
Venue: Plum Elements, llc
I am an interdisciplinary artist and educator living in Charleston, South Carolina. My artwork explores the connections among art, education, politics, and parenting in contemporary culture. Currently, I am examining the vanishing identity of the individual in education with current political reforms and high stakes testing.
I find inspiration from wondering about and questioning the world I live in. As a woman I wonder about gender roles I unintentionally play into, as a mother I wonder how to answer my children's difficult questions about life, as a teacher I wonder how our schools are fostering children's independent and unique personalities, as a spouse and friend I wonder how we nurture long, sustaining relationships that support one another. This wondering and wandering informs the work I create in my studio.
I primarily create collage, assemblage, and sculpture. My materials are ordinary and mixed. I work fluidly between photo transfers, paint, knitting/fibers, paper, drawing, vintage texts and antique objects, found materials (preferably rusty), natural constructions (like parts of nests), and a number of other materials I am exploring and learning about. The methods and materials I utilize allow for my curiosity, improvisation, and innovation.
Finally, while I am interested in initiating discussions related to contemporary culture, I want viewers to enter into such conversations with me (see my series of work titled “Wish” for example). I see my work as an invitation to participate in dialogues in which we can, together, inquire deeply into the world and circumstances in which we find ourselves.