Summer Yates: Mirror Mobiles, 2019, found mirror (sanded), mirror mastic, steel fishing wire, 12" x 12"

About:

My work is about my experience as a woman…. the intimacy of light and emanating color within, and my eagerness to expose it. I crave versatility in objects and I'm attracted to materials that are strong yet flexible like myself. How far can I push until it unravels, what's the breaking point? A physical approach to creating feeds my rhythmic appetite and results in the appearance of a visual dance, a romp between myself and my work. My muse, often inaccesible, inspires my use of colors, objects or symbols that warrant caution while also inviting you in. I allow a sense of interpretative mobility in my work, a door left ajar.... just enough visual information to recognize an image or a mood and experience it in your own memory. In a dream-like fashion, not only do seemingly incompatible parts fit together, but their potency relies on their close proximity to one another. Every work tells a story, but doesn't resonate as just one thing. Both familiar and enigmatic, each time you look, you see something new.

Bio:

Summer expresses her personal history visually through a prolific body of work that includes painting, sculpture, and installation. She spent her childhood drawing all over her bedroom walls, getting lost in nature, and passionately studying and performing classical ballet. Her love for "the stage" later influenced her decision to work as scenic/mural painter professionally while continuing her own artwork in the studio. Summer received her BFA while on scholarship at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. In 2005, she also received a scholarship from The Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts to pursue her MFA. During this time she began her ongoing "mirror mobile" project which recalls her experiences of repetitive "perfecting" of her body in front of a mirror as a dancer. Summers paintings and installations have been exhibited at prominent institutions in the Philadelphia area including, The Independence Seaport Museum, Rowan University, and The Kimmel Center for The Performing Arts. In 2015 she was invited to exhibit her work in the UK as the only American artist to be part of a curated exhibition, "A Moving Identity" in response to the ongoing refugee crisis. Currently, Summer works as a full time artist and lives in Bucks County with her husband, who is a pianist, and her children Viola and Indigo. She is deeply influenced by the nature and music that surround her. Summers most recent work reflects her journey as a mother, and her inquiry into female identity.

www.summeryates.org