Virginia Mallon 

Artist Statement:

I create a gritty fusion of social realism and contemporary commentary. My practice unearths the psychological undercurrents, societal anxieties, and deep-seated traumas of modern American life from an unyielding female perspective. Rather than presenting comforting or sanitized imagery, I confront difficult narratives surrounding forced birth, institutional control, violence, and the systemic stripping of human rights.

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Driven by an urge to examine the world around me, I embrace unconventional, weathered surfaces like burlap, slate, found objects and cigar boxes as well as traditional canvas. Working with fragmented, historical materials—such as discarded roof tiles recovered from a condemned state psychiatric hospital—allows me to build a physical layer of broken shelter and institutional history directly into my art. These textured, tactile grounds anchor my investigations into religious fanaticism, personal histories, and mythological archetypes, transforming historical systemic failures into raw, urgent commentary for a world gone mad.

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For years, I looked at my practice through a lens that never quite fit, slowly realizing that the label of “white feminism” was a niche forced upon me by a patriarchal system designed to compartmentalize a raw female perspective. It took a deliberate process of unlearning and self-discovery to recognize that this wasn’t an organic identity; it was institutional brainwashing meant to sanitize and safely categorize my voice. Stripping away that forced narrative allowed me to see my art for what it truly has always been: gritty, uncompromising social commentary. By stepping entirely outside of a sexually defined category, I have freed my work to confront the universal mechanics of systemic power, trauma, and institutional control on a broader, borderless canvas.

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