Biography and Artist Statement

Currently living and working in Westminster, Colorado, Isabel Baggette is an interdisciplinary artist from Bowling Green, Virginia. She holds B.A.s in Studio Art and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

“There are three points of impact in a collision: vehicle against object, body against inside of vehicle, organs against inside of body. I dwell on moments of connection: skin to skin, fabric to skin, brush to paint, paint to surface, light to object, shadow to absence of light. Human connection and vehicular collision are intense events, slowed and replayed in memory, conversation, and media. My body of work serves as record of a series of collisions or connections. 

In building this record, I create paintings, prints, and objects depicting pain, humor, and intimacy. Careful observations and remembrances of my relationships and community, the works are moments of queer interpellation, reverence, and reflection. Gesturally emotive with selective figuration, the 2-D pieces are often portraits that regurgitate the subject and her environment. This viewing is offered to the beholder as an experience to engage with or avoid. 

My object-making both exists outside of and is integral to my 2-D work. Often painting on smooth Masonite, the preparation of surfaces act as receipts of care. In recent work, I have fabricated small paintings that imitate books. Though unopenable, they are not unreadable. Through printmaking, I’ve begun exploration into monotype on fragmented fabric as embodied, decaying memories of closeness.”

Isabel Baggette