Q & A : Maggie Perrin-Key

Where are you from and how does that affect your work?

I’m from Roanoke, Virginia and I’ve spent most of my life here. Roanoke is a city located in a valley, completely surrounded by mountains. One of the highlights of living here is the proximity to nature. Not only are there more green spaces, trees, and plants than most cities, but you can access nature so quickly. This constant immersion in the natural world has colored my memories with botanical forms, always present even in the background.

Where did you start as an artist?

I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember; I think as a child and adolescent it was a way for me to process emotions and life events. As I got older and was thinking about college, I either wanted to go into fashion design or art, and I ended up choosing to study art. I didn’t have a backup plan and I’ve just kept myself focused and been along for the ride.

Where do you currently live and work?

I live in my hometown of Roanoke, and have a studio in the downtown area of the city.

What is your artistic process from start to finish?

Oh wow, what a question! It usually depends. Sometimes I need a good chunk of time to think and process before I dive into a work, and sometimes a composition just comes to me. Sometimes I labor over a painting for years, periodically putting it away and coming back to it. Sometimes the work is very physical: I feel the compulsion to do something and then I make 50 of that same thing. It really depends.

Do you plan out your works before or let them take shape during your process?

Both! It depends on the medium. When I’m working in colored pencil, I almost always let the work unfold on the paper. But when I work in acrylic paint, it’s usually very precise and I have a sketch and I stay as true to it as makes sense for the composition. But then I also make oil paintings, and those really unfold in their own way, on their own time.

Tell me about your medium of choice. Is there a specific environment or material that's integral to your work?

This body of work is in colored pencil. These pieces I always work on in the morning right when I wake up, and I do them at the desk in my bedroom. The physicality of these is interesting to me because I’m using a lot of concentrated energy on small pieces of paper, building up layers of pencil to get a very saturated and rich field of color. Drawing first thing when I wake up in the morning is part of my daily ritual  and it’s very meditative. I’m using the most intuitive part of my brain because I haven’t talked to anyone yet or taken in any kind of media or information yet.

Let’s talk color - how do you decide your color choices? 

My color choice is very intuitive. Putting colors together is something I just love to do, and I feel like I know what colors I want to be next to each other. Specific colors have a personality and become characters; sometimes they want to be next to someone specific, or go to a color party with all their friends!

Where do you find inspiration?

Oh, everywhere! Usually in plants, or colors that seem happy together.  Music, and clothing – the way people choose to express themselves. Food! Chefs and bakers are such important artists. So much of our world is inspiring, it’s hard to choose.

What motivates you to create?

I’m not sure. I think it’s innate… it’s just something I have to do.

How does your personal narrative play a role in your art making?

I’m a very spiritual person and rituals and symbolism play big roles in my life. My art practice has become a daily ritual; it’s a devotional that fulfills a divine and metaphysical space for me. 

Do you have a network of other artists, and how do they support you?

I do! The friends I went to college with are such a great source of commiseration for me. We come from the same school of thought and had the same experiences and look at art in similar ways, which makes me feel seen. Similarly, some of my college professors are still in my life and they continue to help and support me in so many ways, it’s such a gift. My town also has a tight knit artistic community – most of us all know each other or at least recognize each others’ work. Creatives here are so receptive each others’ work and projects, and that kind of support is irreplaceable.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

Helen Frankenthaler and Julie Mehretu. I was introduced to these two artists when I was in high school, and their impact on me was huge. It was the first time I felt a bodily resonance with other people. I saw videos and photos of them working on these enormous abstract paintings and something in my body just said, ‘Yes!’. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Of course I’m influenced by so many artists, both contemporary and historical, in ways I can trace and ways I’ll never know. But those two were a touchstone for me.

 How has your style changed over time?

Over the past couple of years my work has become less soft, and more bold. I used to have lots of brush marks, blending, and pastel colors in my work. Now I’m making hard edges, filling in big shapes with one color, and using more bold colors. I also play with movement in my work. The stuff I made before the pandemic had a lot of active movement; during 2020 all my compositions were so still; and now my work has a return to action, but it's like movement locked in time.

 Let’s talk about this body of work featured at Charlotte Russell Contemporary. What is this body of work about?

This work is about color, shapes, concentrated energy, the impact of working small, and a completely intuitive process. In my work I like to play with the difference between observation and intuition as guiding principles in image making, and this body is firmly in the latter category.

To title or not to title - how do you come up with the titles to your pieces?

If I have time I like to let titles just come to me. I often try to reflect what I’m thinking about or what’s occupying my brain space while I made a piece. But if all that fails, I go with a descriptive title. If the work isn’t conceptual I don’t want to force a conceptual title onto it -  I like to just let it be.

 What do you hope viewers will take away when engaging with your pieces

I hope people like the colors and feel the movement (or lack of). Ideally I would hope that people see the value and impact of abstract work when looking at my pieces, realizing that our world is as abstract as it is representational. 

 Which art trends inspire your current work?

I try not to follow trends, because honestly I want my work to have longevity. However our culture is inundated with trends, and you really can’t engage with the current zeitgeist without being influenced in some way. Unless we’re really intentional about it, we all take in an alarming amount of visual media, some of it gets lodged in our brains and comes out in our work. There’s a lot of work with simplified shapes and bright colors being made right now, and I suppose I’m part of that group!

Describe your most favorite artwork you have made of all time

I think my favorite painting I’ve made is this one that’s 4’x4’, super deep dark blue with fiery red-orange forms in the foreground. They’re amorphous and organic, moving as though in space. It’s called ‘Magnet’, and it’s a repeated vision I had a few years ago.