If Margaret Wingard’s art practice were a building, the foundation would be sandstone tagged in ancient art. Embroidered and quilted textiles would pave the floors, painted brush strokes would be bastion and studs. Ecofeminism tiled with New Genre Public Art would cap it all off as a roof. Window panes, doors, and columns would be carved out of research and study.

Her work is conceptually and socially-driven, multidisciplinary, visual, and functional.

The first memorable experience she had making art was quilting and embroidering with her mother at the age of two. Textiles, as a mode of story telling became the premise for conveying emotions through combinations of colors, symbols, and textures. Since 9/11, art became her means to process complex feelings and understand the collective human experience. This translates to a widely diverse art practice.

Trying to define the role of an artist in society led her to the Bay Area, the birth place of New Genre Public Art. Working in the worlds of construction, design, architecture, and property development became the tools for extending her reach. They gave her the courage to explore large-scale sculpture and the ability to collaborate with architects, engineers, and contractors to bring ambitious projects to life.

She seeks patterns in seemingly separate realms, like microscopic and cosmic systems, or ancient cultures and modern rituals. She studies symbolism in traditional textiles to find context for contemporary life. Much like the earliest forms of art, she creates every piece as an amulet: symbolic, intentional, and alive.

Every piece created is an essay made through research and material exploration. It is her belief that anything created with such time and care holds energy.

Art is both an offering and an artifact. It should give something back to those who live with it. That is always the goal.