Spotlight Alumni: Terri Goggans, Peripheral Vision

Peripheral Vision is Terri Goggans MFA printmaking based thesis exhibition from the fall of 2010. Terri Goggans now lives and works in Nacogdoches, volunteering her time at Lanana Creek Press and working on art in her home studio. Below is her artist statement on this body of work and a few images from the installation.

Memories for me are fragments of images and thoughts, based on past experiences, that are clear and recognizable yet their meanings sometimes remain elusive. The most recent experiences retain almost all of their clarity and meaning while the older memories tend to break apart, fade and compress into certain images. It is these common images that are repeated over and over in my art which have evolved into a visual language over the last several years. The focus for Peripheral Vision came from a memory I have of playing in a clothesline full of white sheets that were blowing in the breeze.

The choice of materials, traditional and non-traditional, allows the viewer to have a personal relationship with the work. The use of panels of translucent fabric suggests the vagueness memories take on over time. Together they create intimate spaces for the images to appear and reappear moving in and out of space. Some are faded and ethereal, just a mere suggestion of memory, while others are very clear as if the event just took place. The stitching found throughout plays many different roles. As a formal element it acts as a tool for drawing, creating patterns and lines on the surface. The wrapping and encasing of various elements with thread suggests binding and restraining, loss of freedom and silencing. The dangling threads are a metaphor for the fragility and tenuous nature of emotions and relationships. The birds stand for the ability to break free, both physically and mentally, while the text comes from my love of language and handwritten communication.  

The influences in my life have been rich and varied.  My grandmother and great grandmother were both professional tailors passed  and they passed along a love of fibers and stitching me at a very early age.  It is this rich tradition coupled with a love of the relationship between image, fiber and thread that led to Peripheral Vision.