Artist Statement

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
When I was in high school, I was active in all sorts of art projects, from scenery to posters. When I was a senior, I was voted “Most Artistic.” I went to Barnard College and majored in art history. One of my goals was to reach some understanding as to what is the meaning and purpose of art. At that time the main thrust of art history was European: Greek art to “modern art.”
At Barnard I took a course in Chinese art. That was an eye-opener! The Chinese had different artistic values. Ceramics were not considered “crafts” as they are in the West, but high art. Paintings were done in ink on silk not oil on canvas. In other words, there are different ideas as to “what is art.” Later when I went to art school, I was taught about the Bauhaus and Abstract Expressionism. These two near-opposite points of view didn’t teach “what is art,” but they certainly suggested that there is a wide range of possibilities.
For several years in the mid-’90s, my husband and I lived in Malaysia just outside Kuala Lumpur. Due to a local catastrophe (a twelve-story apartment building several streets away fell over), I was invited to join a local ladies’ group whose members were Malay, Chinese, Australian, Pakistani and Indian. It was a truly wonderful experience. In addition, my husband and I did a lot of traveling in the region. We went to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, China, India, Tibet and Nepal.
We live on an amazing planet with many cultures. The art of various cultures looks beyond this planet. My art does that too. My feeling is that we are so small in the larger scheme of things. There is the universe, the cosmos and string theory. Then there is the other direction of molecules, atoms and quantum mechanics.
Can art convey these directions? I would say that they give the artist endless possibilities. I have only scratched the surface, but I have enjoyed that scratch, and I look forward to continuing my journey!

RESUME
Margaret Vickers

EDUCATION
Pratt Institute
Master of Fine Arts in Painting 

New York University
Master’s in Education

Cooper Union Art School
Barnard College
Bachelor’s Degree in Art History 

EXHIBITIONS

Thesis show at Pratt Institute

Two-Woman Show 
at Greenwich House Pottery