Anne Stagg's conceptual geometric abstractions move along the thread of her experience as she explores systems within systems, and in particular, the false promises they offer. Stagg explores different aspects of the many socio-political systems that surround and support our everyday life and is particularly interested in the promises and imperfections inherent in any design.

 

Her practice includes 3 major bodies of work: pattern-based paintings on canvas, painted felt constructions, and elimination paintings on canvas. Through these, Stagg considers the roles we play, willingly and unwillingly, and describes the complicated structures, routines, and practices with which we engage. 

 

In "Systems & Facades," Stagg employs color and pattern as touchstones, layering one system/pattern overtop of another. Initiated with good intentions, systems often fail and are then resurrected through stop-gap solutions and loopholes, resulting in a confusing and complex behemoth that is challenging to navigate or redesign. Through layers of stop-gap repairs Stagg's layers suggest the navigational struggle of a complex and shifting system. Order becomes convoluted and what was intended to be straight-forward becomes difficult to navigate. 

 

In "Invisible | Indivisible," Stagg determines structures from, and paints directly onto, discarded remnants cast off from industrial felt production. She considers the punched and fuzzy nature of the material alongside the invisibility of the manual laborers who produced it. We are simultaneously dependent upon manual labor and yet it is often hidden from us in our everyday experiences.

​

Finally, in "Edits & Omissions," Stagg empathetically reflects on how our systems fail. What happens when all that you have worked for is destroyed when the system doesn't work for you? How can it work so well for some and dismally fail for others? Edits & Omissions considers catastrophic loss through the elimination of a painting in an earlier series of her work. Using different elimination techniques Stagg paints over an earlier painting, forever changing the work and replacing it with a shroud of white. Part mourning and part resiliency of survival, these paintings are informed by whatever visual shrapnel remains after the work below is painted away. The resulting composition may be equally informed by the shape of an earlier brush stroke or by a color that bleeds through the surface layer of paint. 

 

Anne Stagg is an Assistant Professor at The Florida State University where she serves as director of the Department of Art's Foundations Program. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and she is the recipient of several grants and fellowships. In recent years, Anne was co-host of a podcast about contemporary art called, "The Open Call." Begun in the height of COVID as a way to stay in touch and share what was happening in different artists' studios, this podcast has been on hiatus as we seek a return to work/life balance. To see our guest list, inquire about a possible reprisal, or discover more information about the podcast check out http://www.theopencallpodcast.com or on Instagram @the_open_call_podcast.