Andrea Maki: “Wild Rooster”
Press Release
September 16, 1995 through November 6, 1995

Andrea Maki’s first solo exhibition in L.A titled “Wild Rooster, will embody works spanning the last eight years. While these works have been included in past exhibitions elsewhere- this will be the first time they are brought together in this light as a single exhibition, thus juxtaposing key origins of Maki’s work thru to some of her most recent pieces.

Andrea Maki’s work is often autobiographical, as it directly reflects and/ or is a reaction to her surroundings and experiences, events and travels. The recurring use of selected photographic subject matter, such as the Native Americans and World War II fighter planes, originates from their enigmatic qualities – which are in turn ever expanding. Although political overtones do evolve, it is not the impetus of the work. Maki instead produces from an instinctual response – a position of passion, aesthetics, and beliefs. Consequently the work is introspective, and it is for this reason the self-portraits have served as such an integral learning tool found to be a key aspect of her work since1987.

Maki’s conceptually based works assimilate painting, construction, assemblage, photographic techniques, silk-screening, found signage/material, and collage – relying on a process of production she refers to as “jigging”. From Maki’s first one-person exhibition in 1991, appropriately titled “jigging”, author Zoe Anglesey wrote, “Maki consciously creates a kind of ‘synthetic cubism’ by arranging found imager to build a third surface” to unify images and materials.” Maki’s work continues to evolve with its’ foundation firmly grounded within this concept of process, generating a perpetual source of visual activity. While the work is as much about constant exploration and experimentation of concept, material, scale and image within selected mediums. Anglesey closes with, “Ultimately, however, meaning derived from content expanding into coherent context depend on the viewers associations as much as those put forth by Maki herself.”