Statement 

My approach to art making developed at a very early age. My father is a physicist and filled our home with discussions and images that fired my own curiosity about the nature of the universe. Our dialogue explored the unseen world of molecules and atoms, as well as the laws that govern their interactions. As a child, I was compelled to imagine that world. The visual imagery it conjured in my mind made a powerful impression on me, and even now I remain fascinated with the logical and unpredictable nature of the universe. 

I grew up with a set of questions regarding how the universe works, and why things function as they do. I was exposed to ideas concerning experimentation and the notion that everything is a combination of something else. As a child, my father, a physicist, and I looked at books of molecules and subatomic phenomena and my subject matter stems from this dialogue I had with my family. As a result, I’m interested in the internal logic of things (Newtonian Physics) and the unpredictable nature of the universe (Quantum Mechanical Theory). 

I believe that all subatomic particles exist with the potential to combine with and become other particles. They are interactions in a network and based upon events and not things.

When I draw, I begin with a 30 x 44-inch sheet of paper, and I follow the inquiry of the work. When I reach the edge of the sheet, I realize I need more paper. A dialogue begins to take place between the work and the paper. Sometimes I add another sheet of paper in order to answer a question and ironically, the new sheet creates another question. The second sheet of paper now needs a third. This additive process continues until I feel the drawing is resolved. The resolution is achieved by creating systems that respond to the inquiries I set up. I allow the work to grow according to the inquiry. 

The paper is not a seamless void. The seams in the paper function as a system of latitude and longitude to help me deal with issues of symmetry. It’s a way of locating specific points in the drawing. I develop the works from the outside and grow them towards a woven center. The resultant symmetry is reminiscent of the rotation that occurs naturally throughout the entire universe. 

My work is not about otherness, it’s about what we know but don’t recognize. They are a continuum...the genesis of a drawing is usually the unarticulated form of a previous drawing. That’s why I often work on two, or sometimes three, drawings at once. There is always a dialogue going on among my drawings and their various states of completion. 

I reference zones of characters, functions, and locations that I have developed a symbolic language in my work. The images are created through narratives and symbols. The characters find function and relate to one another. I don’t preconceive the finished image because it is only the evidence of complex interactions of systems. I revise as I go along and mediate all the activity. 

There was a time when the questions we look to science to answer were explained through myths and philosophical theories, which today seem mysterious and esoteric. These same questions are the driving force behind the investigation in my work. The constant changing nature of all things drives my work and guides my process. 

Biography

 Amy Myers (b. 1965, Austin, TX) is a New York-based artist whose large-scale abstract drawings and paintings simultaneously reference particle physics, biology, philosophy, the human mind, and the mechanics of the universe.

Myers has received numerous grants and fellowships, including The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant; Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; Ellen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation Studio Residency and Award at MANA Contemporary; and The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Studio Grant. Past residencies include Yaddo Artist Residency (Saratoga Springs, NY); Dora Maar House (Menerbes, France); and The American Academy in Rome.

Previous solo exhibitions include Mike Weiss Gallery (New York, NY); Mary Boone Gallery (New York, NY); Suzanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (Los Angeles, CA); Danese Gallery (New York, NY); Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago, IL); and Dunn and Brown Contemporary (Dallas, TX).

Past museum exhibitions include The Sweeney Art Museum at California State University (Riverside, CA); Pomona College, Montgomery Art Center (Claremont, CA); and University Art Museum, California State University (Long Beach, CA).

Myers has artworks in the permanent collections of the Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum (New York, NY); Pérez Art Museum Miami (Miami, FL); California State University Art Museum (Long Beach, CA); Fort Wayne Museum of Art (Fort Wayne, IN); Greenville County Museum of Art (Greenville, SC); Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (Peekskill, NY); Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, CA); Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, TX); Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Overland Park, KS); and the American Express Corporate Collection.

Myers’ artworks have been cited in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Artnews, Art in America, and BOMB.