Tina M. Ward

Tina M. Ward
Austin, Texas, USA

STATEMENT

Working in a cross-disciplinary manner, I commonly start from a photographic inspiration, whether it is my original, or a found image. Then drawing from, and infusing that spark with personal experience, it is reinterpreted to create an atmosphere, which draws the viewer in visually.

Often, I initially execute an idea in book form, and during the creative process, it will inspire another idea that will manifest as a performance/installation, or a video piece. Multiple mediums are frequently combined to offer an accessible and more engaging experience to the audience.

I have presented interactive work that has a playful tone, as I am very influenced by the Fluxus Movement and the wide range of mediums incorporated into fluxus art, as well as a particular interest in poetic, yet lighthearted works that include an element of humor and wonder. It is important to me as a maker, a student, and an educator, to draw from ideas & materials that pre-exist. And to bring that history together and merge it with my fresh and unique perspective & spirit, to offer as open fodder through which the viewer might learn or experience something valuable.

BIO

Tina Ward is an interdisciplinary artist and instructor of print media, collage, artists’ books & photography courses currently living and working in Austin, Texas. Her career as a visual artist began with the undergraduate program at the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA Printmedia 1994), followed by one year of scholarship-funded, independent study at Akademia Sztuk Pięknych in Poznan, Poland, where her primary focus was performance and installation. She then received an MFA (Printmedia 2004) from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a concentration on book arts & performance.

Ward has exhibited her work & taught extensively in the USA and internationally, and has been the recipient of scholarships and several awards. She has been an artist-in-residence in Kökar, Finland, Jakarta & Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her work is included in collections in Rikhardinkatu Kirjasto, Helsinki, Finland; The Kansas City Art Institute, in Kansas City, Missouri; and The Joan Flasch Artists’ Books Collection, Chicago, Illinois.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
tinaward.weebly.com

IMAGES