artist statement
Graef's works as a whole are a visual representation of her personal history of belonging, altogether depicting a space that is an amalgamation of places, experiences and emotions derived from memory. Line, shape, texture, and vivid color are combined to reconcile the imprint of her thoughts and memories with physical attributes of various locations. Opposing forces operate as dichotomies tugging at each other, all the while coming together. Literal vs. abstract, chaotic vs. calm, familiarity vs. discomfort, fast vs. slow, connection vs. alienation.
She utilizes the medium of oil paint to conjure, resurrect, and alter perceptions of time and reality in the context of her past and current transient state of being. The canvases break the conventions of traditional landscape painting by transforming into a painted collage, fluctuating between styles of painting within one space. Painted instinct, memory, and impressions authentically synthesize the (layers) passing of time with her being. Elements of Graef's works oscillate between that which is recognizable and something more uncertain, thus transforming the viewer into participant, inducing them to spend time and decipher what each aspect is.
Graef's work is highly informed by the Surrealist movement and qualities of collage/murals in general. The works are compromised of seemingly random images that are deliberately placed on top of one another, stylistically straying between historical periods and textures that capture specific moments. These snapshots work together to create a narrative of visuals and thought dwelling in the mind, as well as teetering between ambiguity and certainty. Playing with the different planes of memory and how they interact mimics the Surreal notions of an abstract sense of space and time, questioning the existence of a logical foreground and background.
The self-reflective and analytic nature by which Graef's work is considered and painted is symbolic of her journey towards finding herself and her identity as an artist and woman in modern society, and in her own contexts of home. The juxtaposition of figurative and literal representations emphasizes the disjointed emotional state that results from moving home by recognizing that fragments of important pieces are clearly remembered, but the entire place itself is more of a vague dream. Altogether, the pieces become a narrative that follows Graef's external way of orienting myself and her internal relationships with the world.