Maggie Lawless

My work builds surfaces and imagery through multiple iterations of drawing, painting and collaging juxtaposed to the process of obscuring and abrading.  The initial image consists of architectural elements, visual and text based research data.  These works are then covered over and sanded to create something new.  I repeat this process of creating and destroying as necessary to form the final image.  The work reflects the process embodied in our ever-changing world.

This iterative cycle of old and new intersects to provide a snapshot of our modern condition, creative destruction. This economic term describes the ceaseless production and relentless destruction that fuels our economy and the reinvention process that lies at the heart of our modern capitalist society. A new technology is brought forward, an old technology falls by the wayside; an old building is replaced by the new.  In our modern world, creative destruction manifests itself in the cacophonous technological landscape that is always in flux - the urban noise and never-ending change that surrounding us.  My work is a product of my environment.