This is a show on memory and possibility or, in plain words, recycling and letting my imagination run. My mother introduced me to sewing and eventually in my late teens I arrived at quilting, which I taught myself.
The use of rescued material is not inspired by my concern for the environment-though I deeply care about it, as well-but more for how the materials involved in my process touch and inspire me. When I work with old, already-used materials, objects, and clothes, I like to think of the life they had before the one that I introduce to them. The materials come from friends, family, and my closets. All projects are connected to previous ones; a touch of embroidery and scraps from previous projects will show up on a piece. I believe that used materials carry and give warmth that new material, for all its beauty, does not. To make a quilt I start with a concept and a simple sketch of the idea, then I build around it. My work process is a chicken-and-egg situation. I either look for the material that the image requires, or in looking at the material the image appears. Of these quilts, only Bon was put together in a predetermined, control way. For the rest of them they were cut and put together as a painting; the material was the paint and they were composed through random cutting and adaptation. The motto being: see, cut, and sew.
The genesis of the presented collages arose out of foraging at second hand stores and dumpsters. I love these abandoned works. Some of them are enigmatically, I would say, incomplete rather than ugly. I can see the artist's intention and at the same time understand why she or he gave up on them. They touch me and fire my imagination; I see their potential for beauty. They are great fun to work with and sometimes a tremendous challenge to bring them back to life. I enjoy the process and try to stay true and honest.
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It was in one of her mother's books that Mimi first met Van Gogh-'The Man' as she calls him-the figure that she considers the main influence on her art attachment and a constant influence all the way to the present day.
Mimi is a poet and a painter whose visual art often consist only of a black line, and mixed media. Her enjoyment of this black line brings a new dimension to her work. Abstract landscapes full of wonder and mystery are part of her black and white work.
We can find her poetry in her visual art to which it conveys an appreciation and depth of the subject of the piece. When using color she creates atmospheric inner and outer landscapes full of timeless energy.
The excitement of her work is ever present she enjoys not knowing where her tools will take her to the moment when the piece is complete.
" Young kids-often with crayon-will have made a lively, colorful piece of art for some growing up, that remains, for others it's lost..."
Ernestina Casas