Contemporary Drawings
by Michelle Flanagan

This drawing was created in the fall of 1996 and I included it in my MFA exhibition in the spring of 1997. Formally, it reflects what has become a signature style. Figures, or parts of a figure are treated like shorthand with cartoon like or stylized features while other areas reflect the concentration and patience required for realism or representation. Conceptually, it deals with recurring themes that run throughout my artwork - alienation, dual personalities, alter-egos, rejection, mocking, self-inflicted pain, emotional instability, self-doubt, insecurity, sadness, loneliness, etc.