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For New Jersey native and artist Margaret Fanning, art has been woven into her life from a young age. Influenced and encouraged by her grandmother, who was an artist herself, Margaret explored new worlds with the pastels and watercolor paints she found lying about her grandmother’s studio. Margaret went on to study at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where she earned her BFA in Painting.
It was at SCAD that Margaret began to develop her Vintage Series that delved into her family’s past. Searching for a connection she had lost from her grandmother’s passing, Margaret combed through old photo albums for the inspiration that would produce these paintings. |
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Exhibiting works from the Vintage Series led to commissions producing portraits for others. Working in ink, watercolor, oil, and mixed media, Margaret adds her own interpretation to the original image. Currently her work includes more contemporary subjects and images.
“She evokes painting’s complicated relationship to photography,” states artist Victoria Fu. “(Her work) recalls the cool monochromes of Luc Tuymans but also plays with warm intimacy of the personal snapshot.”
Throughout her career, Margaret Fanning has been dedicated to learning about conservation practices that help to improve the longevity of a work of art. While pursuing skills in preservation, she also studied framing in New York to better understand how certain techniques in framing can contribute to an artwork’s protection and durability.
Margaret Fanning has exhibited internationally and her art can be found in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. She has won multiple awards including the Alexander Portfolio Award and the NJ Chapter of the American Artists Professional League Traditional Realism Award. She currently teaches at the Farmstead Arts Center in Basking Ridge, NJ, the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ, the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, NJ.
“She evokes painting’s complicated relationship to photography,” states artist Victoria Fu. “(Her work) recalls the cool monochromes of Luc Tuymans but also plays with warm intimacy of the personal snapshot.”
Throughout her career, Margaret Fanning has been dedicated to learning about conservation practices that help to improve the longevity of a work of art. While pursuing skills in preservation, she also studied framing in New York to better understand how certain techniques in framing can contribute to an artwork’s protection and durability.
Margaret Fanning has exhibited internationally and her art can be found in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. She has won multiple awards including the Alexander Portfolio Award and the NJ Chapter of the American Artists Professional League Traditional Realism Award. She currently teaches at the Farmstead Arts Center in Basking Ridge, NJ, the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ, the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, NJ.
Artist Statement
My present series takes a nostalgic approach to figurative painting by utilizing old family photographs. I create works in oil, ink, and watercolor. These works are romanticized in a reflective manner with the intent that many people can relate to them. They are a memorial to the past and a way of preservation beyond the photograph. My idealization towards the past does not limit me to merely copying the photographs. My mediums allow me to explore the image in various new ways. I exaggerate their flaws or create new flaws; change (or sometimes even create) their color. By losing or gaining certain elements of the original photo, it gives a new meaning to the term "lost in translation." My works reflect my love for the past and the passage of time.
