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Michael Burgher's Artist Statement
My art is an evolving part of my life. As a teacher of art I am interested in experimenting and exploring with a variety of media and methods; you must be a jack-of-all-traits concerning art in education. Although, artistically for myself, I have been consistently working with ink and colored pencil as a primary media. There has also been a strong pull toward human types of subjects in my art. I feel as an art educator, it is important to produce art as well as educate about art.
I have selected a variety of works that express different ideas, but they have a common link. Life: it is the link and the foundation of all my art. This is true with many other artists. It is what we truly deal with. Art is my life; it is who I am. A portrait of my parents or a few old men at the saloon telling stories about the old days. I love the interactions people have with my work. It is as much theirs as it is mine. People see my work and give it a new title. "That's Uncle Bob. He looked just like that. And he sat just that way."
My artwork is driven by content and emotion of all breads. Love. Hate. Everything in-between. People attach their own emotion into the work. My works are largely impressions of life, some people connect with them personally and the art illustrates their memory. The memory of Uncle Bob, the impression of American Gothic, the crotchety old man from down the street. They spark our emotions as well as my inspiration.
Artist's Bio
Michael Burgher was born in a small town in Northern Iowa. I was put up for adoption and later adopted by Donald and Pauletta Burgher. His early life was spent in Dallas Center, Iowa. A farming community about twenty miles from Des Moines, Iowa. He has always been interested in art; his influences include Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh. He also enjoys the work of the 21st century; Chuck Close, Robert Mapplethorpe, Bill Viola, Cindy Sherman, etc. After the death of his father, who was an instructor at the local high school, he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and go into the educating profession. In 1996 he started his upper education at William Penn College. After some misgivings about their art program, he decided to transfer to the University of Northern Iowa, where he earned his BA. As a first year teacher he balanced art production and teaching at Okoboji Community School in Milford, Iowa. He has accepted a job back in Dallas Center at Dallas Center-Grimes Community School. His wife, Carie, and I have a daughter, Brooklyn, who is an inspiration and an artist in her own right, and a young son, Brody
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Exhibitions
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| Michael Burgher, Milt #3: Next Best Hitler, 2002. ink on map, 9.25" X 6" |
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Wilcock Library, William Penn College, Oskaloosa, Ia. 1997
ITheo.com, 2000
Dean's Triangle Exhibit, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Ia. 2000
Hearst Center for the Arts, "Africanism in American Student Works," Cedar Falls, Ia. 2000
Stone House Gallery, "Michael Burgher: Artistically Diverse Drawing in Ink & Colored Pencil." Ferdonia,Ks. 2002
Ankeny Art Center, "Emotions of Reality", Ankeny, Ia. 2003 |
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