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Moe Gram is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Denver, and works on a diverse array of mediums that include painting, mural, collage, and installation. Gram graduated from California State University, Bakersfield with a major in Visual Arts and a minor in Cultural Studies with a focus in Italian Culture, during which she participated in a 6 month museum studies and studio arts program in Florence, Italy.
Gram’s work involves themes of identity, empathy, human connection, and self reflection. Immediately upon viewing her work, you are met with a boom of vivid colors, movement, noise and texture that settles into a controlled and intentional vibration. The viewer’s eyes harmoniously dance across the piece along the lines and curves of her brush strokes, and end on the powerful, simple message at its core. The beauty of Gram’s work is beyond the aesthetics of her carefully curated color palette, and found within her request of encouraging the viewer to dig deeper within themselves. This is illustrated in her mural for Black Love Mural Festival in 2020, a recent example of Gram’s social justice work; inspired by her personal experience, observation, and self reflection, she presented a potent message of empathy. The audience contemplates the meaning of empathy, how it pertains to the self, and what it truly means to extend empathy to others.
From works on canvas to installations and murals, Moe Gram’s work is distinctive, engaging, and thoughtful. Through her signature color palette, messaging and use of juxtaposition, Gram’s work encourages the viewer to absorb and reflect- for the betterment of oneself and collectively for us all.
Gram’s work involves themes of identity, empathy, human connection, and self reflection. Immediately upon viewing her work, you are met with a boom of vivid colors, movement, noise and texture that settles into a controlled and intentional vibration. The viewer’s eyes harmoniously dance across the piece along the lines and curves of her brush strokes, and end on the powerful, simple message at its core. The beauty of Gram’s work is beyond the aesthetics of her carefully curated color palette, and found within her request of encouraging the viewer to dig deeper within themselves. This is illustrated in her mural for Black Love Mural Festival in 2020, a recent example of Gram’s social justice work; inspired by her personal experience, observation, and self reflection, she presented a potent message of empathy. The audience contemplates the meaning of empathy, how it pertains to the self, and what it truly means to extend empathy to others.
From works on canvas to installations and murals, Moe Gram’s work is distinctive, engaging, and thoughtful. Through her signature color palette, messaging and use of juxtaposition, Gram’s work encourages the viewer to absorb and reflect- for the betterment of oneself and collectively for us all.
Published on February 24th, 2022. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you currently excited about in your art practice?
I am excited to love my work. For many years I was struggling to understand my creative practice and some of my purpose behind creative choices. I was able to defend my work, but didn't necessarily love what I was creating. Fast forward to this moment and I find myself really dazzled by the work I am creating.
Not only am I enjoying the process of creating in a way that I haven't in the past, but I am genuinely enthralled by the final compositions of my work. More than that, I am so well-practiced that I am able to work on larger-scale projects with greater confidence.
What were some of the challenges you faced last year as an artist? Was your work/ art practice affected by the pandemic this year, if so how?
During quarantine in 2020, there really wasn't much work available to artists. A lot of my projects had been postponed and because of that, I had a lot of time to focus on experimentation and being playful. Once we received the clear to come out of quarantine, a lot of those project deadlines were falling on similar dates with a quick turnaround for completion. Because of that, I spent most of 2021 in a wild sprint to finish projects. Everything I did happened at such a rapid rate which was a huge shift from the year before. So instead of engaging in my creative practice, I was in more of a production frenzy.
The beauty in that process was that I had no choice but to make art happen. It was a great challenge to knock out so many projects so quickly and even though I wouldn't ever make the choice to do that again, I am really grateful I got to see a side of my creative ability I haven't seen before. Turns out I can whip out a good chunk of work if necessary.
What does a typical day in the studio (or wherever you're making work) look like for you these days? What time of day are you at your studio, what are your studio must haves (ex: music, coffee, tools, etc), and what does your creative space look like?
A typical day in the studio, I typically have one series of work going at a time. For example, my most recent project was a series of six 48in x 96in wood panels. I painted all 6 works simultaneously, rotating through the works one layer at a time.
I typically work at night. I do my best in the studio starting in the late afternoon, working until about 11pm/midnight. Believe it or not, I spend a lot of my time painting in silence. My thoughts are loud enough so I find myself not really having a lot of music going when I am working. Depending on how much detail or what phase I am in the work, I will play music for a little extra spice in my workflow.
Similar to previous years, I am working with a lot of found objects and materials. Because my work is collage-heavy, there is a lot of chaos going on in there. Scraps and materials all over the place.
What resources for artists have you found helpful that may be helpful for other artists?
Before quarantine, I sat on a few selection committees for various public art projects and community projects. During that time I learned a lot about proposal writing, presenting projects and writing about projects. For any artist looking to have a career in the arts, I think that is a super valuable experience.
Outside of that, I started showing in-progress proposals to other friends and working artists. Their feedback and questions helped me to better understand what I needed to improve upon in my proposal writing.
That said, other artists have been my greatest resource. Sharing ideas, doing studio visits, hearing their approach to their work, learning about their creative process and visions for future works has been the most motivating factor in my own practice. These wonderful humans have given me great feedback on my work or approach to projects, they have encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone, and have pushed me to think about my work in ways that I wasn't considering.
What in your art career are you looking forward to in the upcoming year? Do you have any specific goals or projects in mind?
I am looking forward to doing more community-focused public art projects, taking on some bigger commissions and traveling to France for the La Napoule artist residency. I have worked hard over the last few years to develop a strong body of work. I am super excited to have been recognized for that effort and to be in a place where I am to work on some dream projects that I have been manifesting.
All of the fun exciting projects aside, I am wanting to push myself to do more large-scale public artworks. I have a lot of visions of doing massive recreations of small collage works and murals on 4+ story buildings. I am still learning how to take my small studio works and evolve them to something much larger that can withstand the natural elements. So hopefully by 2023 I will have the answers to these questions and some announcements for something wild. Who knows!?
What are you currently excited about in your art practice?
I am excited to love my work. For many years I was struggling to understand my creative practice and some of my purpose behind creative choices. I was able to defend my work, but didn't necessarily love what I was creating. Fast forward to this moment and I find myself really dazzled by the work I am creating.
Not only am I enjoying the process of creating in a way that I haven't in the past, but I am genuinely enthralled by the final compositions of my work. More than that, I am so well-practiced that I am able to work on larger-scale projects with greater confidence.
What were some of the challenges you faced last year as an artist? Was your work/ art practice affected by the pandemic this year, if so how?
During quarantine in 2020, there really wasn't much work available to artists. A lot of my projects had been postponed and because of that, I had a lot of time to focus on experimentation and being playful. Once we received the clear to come out of quarantine, a lot of those project deadlines were falling on similar dates with a quick turnaround for completion. Because of that, I spent most of 2021 in a wild sprint to finish projects. Everything I did happened at such a rapid rate which was a huge shift from the year before. So instead of engaging in my creative practice, I was in more of a production frenzy.
The beauty in that process was that I had no choice but to make art happen. It was a great challenge to knock out so many projects so quickly and even though I wouldn't ever make the choice to do that again, I am really grateful I got to see a side of my creative ability I haven't seen before. Turns out I can whip out a good chunk of work if necessary.
What does a typical day in the studio (or wherever you're making work) look like for you these days? What time of day are you at your studio, what are your studio must haves (ex: music, coffee, tools, etc), and what does your creative space look like?
A typical day in the studio, I typically have one series of work going at a time. For example, my most recent project was a series of six 48in x 96in wood panels. I painted all 6 works simultaneously, rotating through the works one layer at a time.
I typically work at night. I do my best in the studio starting in the late afternoon, working until about 11pm/midnight. Believe it or not, I spend a lot of my time painting in silence. My thoughts are loud enough so I find myself not really having a lot of music going when I am working. Depending on how much detail or what phase I am in the work, I will play music for a little extra spice in my workflow.
Similar to previous years, I am working with a lot of found objects and materials. Because my work is collage-heavy, there is a lot of chaos going on in there. Scraps and materials all over the place.
What resources for artists have you found helpful that may be helpful for other artists?
Before quarantine, I sat on a few selection committees for various public art projects and community projects. During that time I learned a lot about proposal writing, presenting projects and writing about projects. For any artist looking to have a career in the arts, I think that is a super valuable experience.
Outside of that, I started showing in-progress proposals to other friends and working artists. Their feedback and questions helped me to better understand what I needed to improve upon in my proposal writing.
That said, other artists have been my greatest resource. Sharing ideas, doing studio visits, hearing their approach to their work, learning about their creative process and visions for future works has been the most motivating factor in my own practice. These wonderful humans have given me great feedback on my work or approach to projects, they have encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone, and have pushed me to think about my work in ways that I wasn't considering.
What in your art career are you looking forward to in the upcoming year? Do you have any specific goals or projects in mind?
I am looking forward to doing more community-focused public art projects, taking on some bigger commissions and traveling to France for the La Napoule artist residency. I have worked hard over the last few years to develop a strong body of work. I am super excited to have been recognized for that effort and to be in a place where I am to work on some dream projects that I have been manifesting.
All of the fun exciting projects aside, I am wanting to push myself to do more large-scale public artworks. I have a lot of visions of doing massive recreations of small collage works and murals on 4+ story buildings. I am still learning how to take my small studio works and evolve them to something much larger that can withstand the natural elements. So hopefully by 2023 I will have the answers to these questions and some announcements for something wild. Who knows!?
Find Moe Gram on Instagram
