Biography
Marguerite Gilbertson is a Fine Art Instructor and interdisciplinary sculpture / performance artist. The artwork she creates is an extension of her own experiences, family, and societal perceptions of agriculture. Marguerite has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships, most recently she collaborated with Tony Veronese, the Lecturer of Foundations and Core at AUM, to create a sculpture for the Community Togetherness Project at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
Artist Statement
The central theme in my work is rooted in my experiences growing up on a cash crop farm and about family. I was raised around a group of gregarious, passionate, and eccentric women. My adventures with my mother and these individuals sparked within me the confidence that women could forge their own path despite patriarchal systems working against us.
Agriculture has traditionally always had male dominated hierarchies of power. This balance of power left many women, such as my mother, with the role of a house wife. It also meant I was left out of the narrative for the future of my family's farm for merely being female. The loss I felt from this realization pushed me to make work and performances about this power dynamic. As a sculpture artist, I also found myself challenging perceptions and expectations surrounding specific tools and techniques as well as the underlying roles of power that remain in this career. By taking objects that are stereotypically associated with being masculine and manipulating them into a more feminine symbol deconstructed these stereotypes of what is considered male or female.
My work is an ongoing exploration of myself and my experiences as a woman. It reflects my memories, my parents, and of that beautiful group of women who believed that I could be more than what was expected of me.