OVAC Fellowship: Paul Bagley

Paul Bagley, Samhain: Into Her Dreaming, 2007, Reclaimed wood, metal, rope, piano wire, linen, LED lights, 12volt deep cycle battery, audio components, bronze, 60’ x 8’ x 15’

The Oklahoma Visual ArtsFellowships recognize Oklahoma artists with outstanding vision, rewarding them for their past achievement and future promise. A guest curator selects the awards through an open call process. The curator for the 2011 Fellowship is Ben Heywood, Executive Director of  The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN.

Through his three-dimensional, multimedia work, Bagley encourages communal, creative or functional interactivity. He often generates artwork in response to the location where he works. The origin of materials provides the conceptual framework for every piece, such as wood recycled from demolished buildings or adaptive reuse of outdated technology.

“In studying sustainable design over the years, I’ve developed sensitivity to the layers of applied design integrated into our modern culture and how art appreciation functions within this realm,” said Bagley. He said this examination of our rapidly changing world “drives my creativity, addressing embodied energy, processing methods, material up-cycling, and those relationships relative to their history and environmental impact.”

Bagley received a BFA in Visual Communications from the University of Oklahoma.

Read more about the Fellowship winners in Art Focus Oklahoma magazine. 

Visit Paul Bagley's website at: www.paulbagley.com