“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times, the best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is this something we make happen.”
~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
ARTIST STATEMENT
Through the creation of acrylic paintings that are autobiographical, self-reflective and inspired by personal memories, experiences and nostalgia, my pieces encompass time, place and identity. At times, my work seeks to explore and celebrate the duality of both my Latin and American cultures. In addition, it pays homage to mundane objects through the genre of still life as I selectively utilize these objects to symbolically represent, evoke and memorialize past memories. I have always had an interest in still lifes and the mundane inanimate objects that are so often overlooked in our everyday lives. As a collector of a variety of objects, I have been intrigued by who may have once owned them during different times and places. I work from observation and reference as I once did in my classroom as a former teacher. Loss and longing are sentiments that find their way into my work as I seek to hold onto the memories of events and people that have made a significant impact in my life.
~ Mercedes M. Ingenito
