Episode 15: Meryl Truett’s Story of Excavations
Like many of our guests on Artists Telling Stories, Meryll Truett wanted to be an artist from an early age. Her grandmother painted, and her father dabbled in art, though neither made it their life’s work. At first she wanted to act, but her parents, she says, “Was scandalized by that.”
She studied literature as an undergraduate, and was also very much attracted to film. Both of these early interests find a place in her work. But it was a year abroad in the south of France that impelled her toward photography. She fell under the spell of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s documentary style of photography, submitted a photograph to a competition, and won the award of 100 rolls of film.
All images courtesy of the artist.
At first her work centered on the vanishing landscape, particularly the U.S. South. In series such as “Thump Queen” and “Vernacular Highway,” she used a Helga (plastic) camera to capture the visual elements of religion in the south—an ironic stance since southern religion is known for “words,” not images. But Truett found humor and nostalgia in these series, and she realized she was excavating elements of her past.
She moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, about seven years ago, and though out of her milieu, she says she uses the distance from her home country to see her past (and herself) more clearly. Her work has taken an inward turn, while at the same time becoming more complex because of her explorations in mixed media.
Excavation both informs her process—she scrapes layers of her work until she sees what she wants—and her subject. She has discovered, partially to her dismay, that she is much like her mother! She focuses on objects of her past and finds a great sense of nostalgia in them—looking for the links they evoke in her past to connect her to the present.
Another sort of excavation is her study of Mexican history, particularly those aspects that emphasize women, the role of women soldiers, for example, in her mixed media series “Soldederas.” In such a series she uncovers the often marginalized aspects of Mexican history.
In her many workshops, she encourages her students (usually all women) to free themselves to create—to explore the objects of their own pasts, and thus to excavate themselves--their stories.
Meryl joined us from her studio in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she offers ongoing workshops in mixed media, collage, encaustic photography, photographic transfer, and hand coloring throughout the year.
More information is available on her website.
