The following is her artist statement:
Symbolism saturates my work. I am moved and
influenced by what has come before me: the symbol-laden art of the Middle Ages,
the purposeful and impeccable craftsmanship of ancient handmade books, and my
own rich familial history. These connections to the past guide the iconography
of my work. I deliberately choose to use objects over imagery, symbolism over
realism, and suggestion over definition.
Teresa has been sharing her work in exhibitions
since 1982, since 2009 she has been in over 40 national shows, commissioned
work AT&T, and even part of a selected corporation collection at Saks
Fifth Avenue in New York City. She is currently a working artist and associate
professor of art at Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Missouri where she
teaches typography and graphic design.
She grew up on a farm with her many siblings
and parents where problem solving and improvising was a must. These skills have
artistically been useful throughout her career. She loves art history and has
been inspired by Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Joseph Cornell, and Timothy Barrett.
She obtained her undergrad in studio art where she focused on all media but was
especially interested in paper art her senior year. This was a very new time
for paper art and she ended up making it to print on.
Her first works were of course paper but much more
sculptural. They were very fine and perfected papers then after a few years
she began to create more narrative pieces and boxy shapes.
She researched and created many types of Japanese paper. In graduate
school, she began using new materials such as metal which gave dimension
to her work. Beeswax was another addition to her work as well as writing
stories that were incorporated into the work.
The Storytellers series in the PSU
gallery, she mentioned that there are three common themes that connect
every piece. 1. Language: text, print, written. 2. Containers: book, envelopes,
house form with window-to contain story. 3. Portraits: autobiography of family
and pure fiction from found images. With all three of these elements
evident in her work, you are able to get a sense of a story she is telling. She
even has bit of letterpress pieces such as leading and furniture.
Her work is inspiring to me as I too have
great interests in letterpress, printmaking, paper arts, mixed media,
containers/boxes, and telling stories of my own. I also have a big family that
grew up on a large plot of land in the country. Seeing her success and joy for
her artistry is a breath of fresh air as I am embarking on my own journey along
a similar path in media. I feel that I will refer to her work often in my own
career. Another connecting point is that my dad, a former potter actually
knew Teresa and her husband in the early 1970's. I even own, and use very
often, a piece of his from 1974!
If you are interested in learning more about Teresa, here is the about page for her on the Missouri Western website and her personal website.
https://www.missouriwestern.edu/art/about-us/faculty/teresa-harris/
http://teresajharris.com
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