Artist Bio

Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

Currently lives and works in Dearborn, MI

Contact: bgneal@gmail.com

Artist Statement

I began to draw at an early age, and have been making artwork on and off ever since.  Drawing slowly shifted to collage and assemblage providing me more immediate access to images and ideas.

What influences me most is a sense that mystery is slowly disappearing from the world.  Every day, scientific and technological advances keep us firmly in control, eroding the magical and mystical aspects of life.  We have subdued nature so well that any non-rational experience is almost immediately dismissed.  My work is not about the images or objects, but about creating a world where the viewer can stop to consider the supernatural qualities of everyday life. Those qualities attributed to some force beyond current scientific understanding or the laws of nature. I use my art to remember that the world can never be fully known and will always have its mysteries.

I typically search out images or objects that have been well used and will lend themselves to a variety of ideas, both simple and complex.  I have found extraordinary objects at garage sales, flea markets, antique stores and sometimes curbside.  Working at a slow pace allows me to rearrange elements, reflecting on some ideas for 6 months to a year waiting for the work to suggest a certain memory or experience.  Recently I have been experimenting with different archival methods to anchor the elements of the piece into a new permanence.  

Ultimately, I hope that viewers will be able to look past the physical world and become aware again of their imagination and intuition, creating a different reality or unexpected connection.To quote anthropologist Loren Eiseley, “It is a funny thing what the brain will do with memories and how it will treasure them and finally bring them into odd juxtapositions with other things, as though it wanted to make a design, or get some meaning out of them, whether you want it or not, or even see it.”