ARTIST STATEMENT

PAMELA MAURER

artist statement

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I am a Chicago-based multimedia performance artist. I moved here from the rural Southwest in 2003 to pursue a BFA in theatre performance, and to complete a three-and-a-half-year professional apprenticeship in scenic design and artistry. For over fifteen years I’ve earned my living as a commercial artist, designing and fabricating experiential installations, 3D environments, displays and exhibits for theatre, television, events, retail, restaurants, and museums. Simultaneously, I’ve pursued a career as a writer and performer, creating original music as part of a performance art project disguised as a rock band. I see this project as an extension of my visual art practice and approach the entire piece as a found object/comic book-inspired myth. 

The ‘performances' I craft by day happen most often when I’m not there: interactive environments, events, and displays that invite viewers to experience something and create memories. The performances I make outside of my “day job” require my whole self—my voice, body, lyrics, musical talents, and the exchange of information. I often create zines, posters, games, and illustrations as “takeaways” to commemorate these occasions. I love the concept of celebration, and want my work to embody the feelings one associates with special moments, the passing of time, and holidays. I also want my work to express my sense of humor, expose the randomness of human experience, and explore the chaos that exists just below the surface. 

My aim is to create performative spaces inspired by architecture, sound, and movement. I use a variety of techniques to create these spaces including Mary Overlie’s Viewpoints technique, the Economy of Movement, and most recently Laban Movement Analysis. My process is deeply physical, and is informed by structured improvisation, collaboration, collection, collage, and exploring space utilizing techniques from across the arts: traditional studio art, theatre, music, filmmaking, and dance. My work is often devised, collaborative, and site specific. 

My work is deeply inspired by 1960s cinema, post punk performance artists like the Talking Heads, Pee-wee Herman, Patty Smyth, and John Waters, pyramid schemes, fashion, and advertising. My work explores urbanity, nostalgia, camp, 1990s DIY values, the body as object, and post WWII consumerism. I draw inspiration from outsider art, the rise of social media, and the tension between high art, pop culture, and the counterculture. 

I feel uniquely qualified to help create and discover what’s next within the realms of public performance and experiential installations—two things forever changed by the pandemic.