Interview with Mia Bergeron:
What inspires your approach to capturing the essence of this new series?
This series is a meditation on time and the presence of our daily interactions. That presence is often both external AND internal.
As a modern human with an overactive mind, I have often found myself in a conundrum of living in two selves. I can witness a powerful storm or churning ocean, and yet be wondering about what I will have for dinner and if I have enough laundry detergent. It doesn’t always go that way of course, but it’s an interesting thing to notice the degree to which we can all have a foot in the other-worldly and another in the ordinary. Interestingly, this conversation can also go the other direction: a seemingly small act like cutting an orange the wrong way can make me think about my own mortality, and question the reason for pain.
We live in this dichotomy of two realms constantly, and this series is about how that union shows up at different hours of the day.
How do you balance realism and interpretation in your work?
I believe all painting is abstraction and interpretive, so realism is solely a tool for me- I ask myself if painting something realistically will add or take away from my narrative. Sometimes adding too much detail ruins the mystery that may be the goal of what I’m trying to get across. On the other hand, sometimes hyper-focussing on the details can guide a sharp arrow directly to a conceptual target. I have no rules or goals around style, I simply ask myself if realism will do the job.
Can you describe your process for selecting a scene to paint?
For the past few years, I have been painting small sketches to formulate my ideas. They aren’t as much of a time commitment, so I feel freer to experiment. I also love that they are more surprising and visceral than trying to photoshop everything.
I take a lot of photos constantly, so I have a big library of ideas. But really, the short answer is I pay as much attention as I can to what I see each day.
What emotions or themes do you hope viewers take away from your paintings?
The pursuit of contemplation is my ultimate goal, and my hope is for my pieces to act as mirrors for viewers. The biggest compliment I can receive is when people say they experienced their own reality differently because of one of my pieces. My hope is for viewers to see their nuanced selves in my work, whatever that may look like.
And maybe a quote that has something to do with the theme being hours of the day….
And anything else interesting?
I love the quote by Annie Dillard: “ How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.” That sums it up pretty perfectly for me because the larger themes of our existence are made up of fairly small units of time. This series is a dedication to those smaller microcosms that collectively create our reality.
