My proclivity towards painting and collage traverses material as history, surface as movement, and abstraction as vehicle. Growing up in Upstate, NY formed my aesthetic foundation from grassy pastures and mountains to the neatly sculpted suburbs that fell in direct conflict with an embodied relationship to nature. I want to tease out those contradictions. 

My current environment of Philadelphia stands in similar opposition with a gridded, hard-lined perspective pushed against the mountainous landscape of Pennsylvania. Both are examples of man-made chasms caused by urban and land development. They challenge the permanence of the natural landscape and create a conflicting narrative of eco-politics through destruction and preservation. I weave together disparate elements to examine what is revealed, concealed, and how the collision of parts make up a new whole. 

The studio acts as a forest. The works build and create relationships to one another by constantly adjusting to changing climates in and out of the studio, growing, receding and reproducing. I generate material from observing personal landscapes and utilize the rectangle through perspective or gridding as a structural support. The studio functions through process-based systems that reuse, produce, and recycle material, turning repetition and waste management into ritualistic practice. I often compare my processes to the networks of fractals and life systems that maintain adaptability within forests. 

My goal is to align my work with the duality of my upbringing, ecological research and process. I want to clarify my investment in the landscape, connect my works to their context and promote a productive platform to discuss environmental concerns through my material practice.

Stephanie Manzi is a painter/collage artist from Albany, NY and currently is a 2022 MFA Painting candidate at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia. She received her BFA in Drawing and Painting, Minor in Art History from The State University of New York at Purchase College in 2014. She has had success showing in group shows throughout New York State including Albany, Colonie, Ballston Spa, Saratoga and Brooklyn, as well as Norwalk, CT, Philadelphia, PA and received the Award for Excellence from Conception Arts NYC in 2018.