Artist Bio
b. 1990, Paris, France
Twiggy Boyer is best known for her nostalgic mixed media collages often created using vintage found photographs. Boyer’s mixed media works explore themes of nostalgia, memories and connections and incorporate collage elements, drawing and painting. Born and raised in Paris, France, Twiggy studied painting and curatorial studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD and graduated with a BFA in 2012. Boyer has been a part of a number of group exhibitions most notably at the Coral Springs Museum of Art and at Yale University, and has permanent works collected in the Doug & Laurie Kanyer Art Collection. Over the last 10 years, Twiggy Boyer has worked as a teaching artist in the museum education setting, as a full time elementary art teacher and in the form of teaching adult collage workshops. In February of 2020, Twiggy co-founded Photo Trouvée Magazine-- an art publication that showcases contemporary artists who use found photographs as a medium in their works. She currently works and resides in South Florida with her daughter and partner.
Artist Statement
My works seek to investigate themes of memory, connections and nostalgia. Using carefully curated found photographs as collage elements, I explore how my own recollections and experiences are often similar to another person’s. I work with forgotten photographs gathered from dusty thrift shops that I feel deeply connected to. I aim to relate the small moments captured in the images to my own memories in a sort of familiar parallel. The patterns, layers and repeating images in my mixed media collages become a visual representation of memories over time—adding and removing, sometimes blurred or influenced, fragments of images are cut, torn and collaged onto paper intuitively. Floral elements often find their way into the works to further illustrate the fragility and ephemeral qualities of memories and to bring symbolism to the pieces often referencing the principles of Victorian Floriography. My hope is to invite viewers to make a connection to their own memories and to encourage a nostalgic and emotional response, ultimately creating a bond between us. Borrowing aspects from the memory of others, I mold them into my own and aim to create new ones for others to borrow from.