Monica DiGiovanni (she/her)
BFA: Studio for Interrelated Media 1999, CYT 200
Instagram: @monica_digiovanni
Facebook: Monica DiGiovanni Art & Yoga
Creative Ground: Monica DiGiovanni
Facebook: Monica DiGiovanni Art & Yoga
Creative Ground: Monica DiGiovanni
Artist’s Statement The current exploration of my work investigates themes of birth, death, and rebirth, as well as strength and vulnerability, impermanence, nature, resilience, chaos, and Buddhist studies including consciousness itself.
Born out of Japanese Zen arts, ensō, or Zen circles, are an opportunity to embody the unseen. Ink, iridescent pigment, and other materials capture the ineffability of time in moment-to-moment experience. The brush, medium, and paper become a direct extension of body, mind, and the universe.
With isolation and an uncertain future being among the greatest ills of our time, connections to other people and the natural world provide contentment, allowing us to recognizing our individuality as part of the whole. Yoga and meditation enable people to meet themselves in their most vulnerable moments and see beyond their struggles enough to experience deeper connection. I've most recently trained as a death doula and hospice volunteer and find inspiration and sympathy keeping company with individuals with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. There is a tremendous amount of courage needed to live with cognitive decline and so much to be learned from the complex, heartbreaking, changeable landscape of degenerative mental conditions including how important it is to live fully in every moment. These experiences have brought new meaning and a sense of wonder in to the process.
My creative practice utilizing oil paint, ink, watercolor, and other media, as well as expressive movement is infused with my 30+ year relationship with yoga and meditation. My art aims to foster deeper self-awareness and compassion for individual viewers, as well as gentler connections within society.
Born out of Japanese Zen arts, ensō, or Zen circles, are an opportunity to embody the unseen. Ink, iridescent pigment, and other materials capture the ineffability of time in moment-to-moment experience. The brush, medium, and paper become a direct extension of body, mind, and the universe.
With isolation and an uncertain future being among the greatest ills of our time, connections to other people and the natural world provide contentment, allowing us to recognizing our individuality as part of the whole. Yoga and meditation enable people to meet themselves in their most vulnerable moments and see beyond their struggles enough to experience deeper connection. I've most recently trained as a death doula and hospice volunteer and find inspiration and sympathy keeping company with individuals with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. There is a tremendous amount of courage needed to live with cognitive decline and so much to be learned from the complex, heartbreaking, changeable landscape of degenerative mental conditions including how important it is to live fully in every moment. These experiences have brought new meaning and a sense of wonder in to the process.
My creative practice utilizing oil paint, ink, watercolor, and other media, as well as expressive movement is infused with my 30+ year relationship with yoga and meditation. My art aims to foster deeper self-awareness and compassion for individual viewers, as well as gentler connections within society.
Bio
Monica DiGiovanni studied painting and drawing at the Pacific Northwest College of art before transferring to the Massachusetts College of Art. There she graduated in 1999 with a BFA in the Studio for Interrelated Media with a focus on creative movement and the human body as medium as well a variety of other multi-media disciplines and public art. Between 2012-2013 she spent four months in residency at Welcome Hill Studios in West Chester, NH taking the time to reconnect with and unleash her creative spirit from many years of dormancy. In 2021 she received a fellowship to participate in the Creative Imperative online residency through the Vermont Studio Center. She is formerly a co-owner with over 60 other artists throughout it's 10-year history of The Front cooperative gallery in Montpelier. In addition to being an artist and Zen practitioner she loves her role as a yoga and meditation teacher, www.montpelieryoga.com and is engaged in providing end of life care for families and individuals. Monica has also produced large 300-plus person events.