My earliest memory of making art is helping my mother quilt. I was two years old, sitting in a JoAnn Fabrics shopping cart, choosing fabrics and holding on to her skirt while she used a rotary blade at quilting club. By the time I was six, she had taught me to sew and embroider. Each small stitch carried intention, even if it sometimes meant a pricked finger. Art, she showed me, was more than mere decoration. It was a vessel of energy. Those lessons never left me.
Margaret Wingard is a socially and research-driven multidisciplinary visual, conceptual, and performance artist.
Before I became a full-time artist, I worked as a builder and designer in construction, architecture, and interiors. These roles taught me precision and gave me the creativity to solve problems at the intersection of function and form. They also gave me the courage to explore large-scale sculpture and the ability to collaborate with architects, engineers, and contractors to bring ambitious projects to life.
My work moves between structure and expression, mathematics and emotion. In both two and three dimensions, my practice is rooted in research and guided by concept. I look for patterns between seemingly separate realms, like microscopic and cosmic systems, or ancient cultures and modern rituals. I study symbolism in traditional textiles to find context for contemporary life. Much like the earliest forms of art, I want my work to function as an amulet. I want it to be symbolic, intentional, and alive.
These ideas appear in my installations, paintings, textiles, and conceptual events. I use materials in unexpected ways. I have stretched satin and covered it in pumice and monoprinted acrylic. I have taken AI-generated compositions and etched them into lime plaster to create frescoes. I have painted slabs of bark with fire. Every piece I create is an essay made through research and exploration. Anything created with such care and intention holds energy.
I see art as both an offering and an artifact. It is alive. It gives back to those who encounter it. That is always my goal.
