Andrea Hersh
Andrea Hersh holds a BS in painting and drawing from Skidmore College and an MFA from the University at Albany. Her work has been widely exhibited, including the Flash Art Show in Milan, Italy, the Albany Institute of History and Art, Gallery Boreas, and the AAF Contemporary Art Fair. She received a New York Foundation of Art in the category of Painting. She lives and works in Slingerlands, NY.
Artist Statement
My work represents fragments of dreams, fantasies, and moments in time. My protagonists are part human, part vegetable. By insinuating these fanciful hybrids into precarious and toxic situations, I can explore themes of vulnerability, desire, greed, and industry gone awry. The genesis of this body of work occurred 33 years ago when my first child was born. As a young mother I tried to make sense of the disposable world of diapers. I imagined mountains of diapers festering in landfills for millions of years. Then I imagined a new world and the post-human creatures that might inherit it. A Libra, I continually strive to bring balance into my art. I am the person who always sees two sides to every story, balancing family and work, society and solitude, whimsy and cold reality. This work balances the beauty I see in nature with the ugliness that I have contributed to it as an active member of a disposable culture.