The Wall Breakers

Mernie Baker: Deconstructed then Reconstructed Paintings

We've all experienced a point in our careers as artists where we looked at work that we had previously considered finished from a different (and perhaps less emotionally invested due to elapsed time) perspective and wanted to rework the art. I'm fortunate in this regard that a lot of my work is done on the computer, so creating a new file is a simple as "save as." Fine artist Mernie Baker recently decided to look at her body of work from the past twenty years and edit it. She set about cutting up many of her paintings to form new ones. 

Mernie had this to say about the project: "I looked at my body of work over the past 20 years and decided to cut up a lot of paintings. What I discovered was that while I was deconstructing these paintings, I was still keeping colors and images that I worked hard to make. I consider this to be 'erasure' in that I am erasing parts of the painting and adding different pieces from other paintings. What I came up with was a fresh new piece that is comprehensive. It embodies a lot of the colors I had previously labored over with other elements that I wanted to keep. I think the recurring themes in my work are growth, exploration, color, and a love for creativity. As I continue to grow as an artist it's paramount that I try new things that build on my experience. It is an appreciation for these new techniques and styles that are incorporated into my new paintings, but all my work is always built on a sincere desire to communicate a truth that I believe, which is that the simple things in life are the best. I'm continuing to learn how to live a uncomplicated life as I search for its essence and ways to help achieve this. This series is a limited series."

After posting this series on her website Mernie was selected to participate in the Parallax Art Fair in Soho, NY last weekend. Parallax is an art fair of 200 non-signed hand picked artists from all over the world! Check out her paintings below as well as a video from the fair!

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