“And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Anaïs Nin
' poetic ...' 4 december 2014, part of virginia fitzgerald's 'dailydress' series, a photographic record of the numerous ephemeral dresses that fitzgerald has made during the course of her every day. many are posted on her instagram account: virginiacreates.
v i r g i n i a f i t z g e r a l d
Virginia Fitzgerald is a mixed media artist who works in sculpture, installation, fiber arts, painting, photography and collage. Her studio is in Natick, MA where she also lives with her two amazing daughters and Scruffy, her cohort in crime rescued mutt, in a house full of love and creativity.
She was born in Chicago, IL where she was introduced to the colors and freedom of the Impressionists at the Art Institute of Chicago at an early age. She received her BFA from Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, where she concentrated in printmaking and soft sculpture/fiber arts. After graduation she lived in many places, soaking up local color and vistas, Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL, The Netherlands and New York, NY before settling in the Boston area. During her nomadic years she studied Art at such institutions as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of Visual Arts, NY, NY.
When she first moved to Boston she continued her freelance illustration business, however soon after attending a painting class at the Danforth Museum’s School of Art, her energies were focused back on her studio work. First she concentrated on acrylic painting, successfully exhibiting in local galleries. Then in 2006, her work exploded into photography, site-specific installations and sculpture, when she discovered the iconic image of the dress.
Currently she is working on three significant bodies of work, ‘The Dress Project’, her ‘Creatures’ and her ‘line paintings’. Her work can be found in many private collections throughout the country and in corporate collections. In 2011 she was an artist in residence at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA, attended the Vermont Studio Center and received the Puffin Foundation Grant. She has received numerous commissions to create and lead community participatory installations, such as 'birds of poetry ... ' for National Poetry Month for the Attleboro Public Library in 2012.