Monica Pierce

Monica Pierce’s small scale oil paintings on wood panels and mixed media drawings on paper in the exhibit Pattern Book were derived from her continuing fascination with patterns. Pierce began studying drawings of patterns in graduate school while traveling in Portugal.

In Lisbon, she took note of all the tile-patterned floors and walls on the buildings and visited a museum devoted to the art of tile painting. Captivated by the variety of pattern images, Pierce began her research into the history of patterns. Pattern Book showed Pierce’s inventive use of patterns through intimate scaled paintings and delicate, layered drawings. This book was an ongoing project of drawings that was shown with her paintings. The 200 plus pages of mixed media drawings in the book reflected the layered use of repeated forms and revealed Pierce’s intricate process that underlined the creation of her paintings. The semitransparent pages of the drawings created a series of ever-changing overlays.

Pierce creates patterns drawn from memory and changed in form through her own personal interpretation. She creates her paintings using subtle strokes of modulated color, abstract form, and enigmatic patterns.