SANCTIFICATIONS
TONI MAUGERI
Assemblage, Mixed Media and Performance Artist
HOPE DIES LAST video
I am an artist intent on bringing positive energy into the world. My artwork is inspired, with respect, by people ~ society ~ environment ~ life ~ dreams ~ magic ~ memories ~ mojo ~ myth ~ nature ∞ I integrate gathered and invented objects with words and symbols in my assemblage, mixed media, performance and mural work to tell deeply personal stories.
As a native Chicago city dweller immersed in urban grit I am inexplicably drawn to discarded things not considered beautiful in a conventional way. These charged objects become essential to each story.
I began making mixed media while studying film and photography at Columbia College. In the darkroom I started painting photos and adding found objects to the surfaces. I proceeded to study performance art and sculpture at The Art Institute of Chicago. Soon thereafter, I opened my custom floral art company, Floral Forms. My 2D work evolved into assemblage incorporating organics, metal, wood, plastic and textiles. I completed my formal training in architecture and construction to obtain the necessary technical skills to create assemblage sculpture.
Exhibits
A Path f Resilience; Chicago
Messages of Hope: Chicago
Long Live Frida; Indiana
Out of the Gray; Chicago
Hope Dies Last The Dime Gallery; Chicago
Logan Mural Hope Dies Last and Murder of Crows; Chicago
Performances
Arts in the Dark; Chicago
Illumination; Chicago
The 606 Parade After Dark; Chicago
She Who Wanders Under the Full Moon Darkly; Chicago
Reflections on Fire; Chicago
Work In Progress
The Tale That Was Bound To Be Told – Assemblage
Through Rose Colored Glasses – Assemblage
Conversations With Pigeons – Assemblage
Hero – Assemblage and Documentary Photography
Hope/The Walls – Street Art and Artifacts
I am a visionary teller of tales crafted by interpreting people and society in the urban environment.
My interactive assemblage, mixed media, performance and mural artwork externalizes what I see in my mind’s eye and feel in my bones. Unlimited gathered materials including discarded urban decay, organics, charged objects, trinkets, relics, mementos, wood, metal and textiles are combined with drawings, paintings and other inventions are glued and cold connected to create artifacts.
I involve the spectator in my artwork in a variety of ways. Street art murals may stimulate the passerby to consider my message. My artifacts invite the audience to explore ideas and enhance their meaning. The performances that I share are participatory rituals.
To complete my artwork it is necessary to engage the viewer in the journey of personal crossings that unfold slowly and naturally ~ in all their glorious grit ~ for better or worse.