Vickie Peirre: The Visceral Experience

A window into the past and cultural expression, Vickie Peirre weaves together striking, 3D structures that touch on classic sensibilities but with a focus on cultural commentary. The Miami-based artist’s pieces have been described as “fractured fairy tales.” The first glimpse reveals beauty, but a deeper look brings a pointed message. Her work is currently on display at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and we talked with her about her work and creative process. 

How did you first get into making art, and what led you to this medium?
I have been making art my whole life. As a child, I would draw on my bedroom walls and eventually in my school books! I became more serious about my artmaking process once I graduated from college, School of Visual Arts. I started out with the usual, painting and drawing, but in the early 2000s, I began playing around with decorative objects that I’d been collecting and hoarding for some years. I began to see and understand the connections of these objects to global histories and cultures as well as my personal memories. 

What is the process like for making your pieces?
I make a lot of sketches of project ideas for my assemblages and collage works (on paper and canvas). I’ll sift through the sketches to find inspiration or the concept can come to me through every day visual experiences. Once I determine the size and shape of the work, it becomes a self-evolving process. There are times when the process of creating a piece is very quick and seamless. Other times it can be stagnant, and I’ll leave the work alone to allow for more time and consideration to show me the path forward. 

What points are you trying to explore with your art about colonialism and race, and how do you feel this is achieved? How do your pieces deconstruct ideas about colonialism, class, and royalty?
In my work, I consider how history, gender and ethnicity influences the way I view the world and my place in it. 

The works are multilayered, without a linear narrative. They may appear to be enchanting and whimsical; that is an intentional, important part of the work. But while the use of decorative architectural elements (wall plaque decorations and candle sconces, from varying periods), point to grandeur, decadence, and beauty, they also point to systems of power as well as the ignored truths and caveats of such beauty and how that was obtained and who benefited, etc., etc. Minimal color usage in some of the works project, a fantastical tone that speaks to nightmares, higher powers, and enlightenment. In addition, the assemblages are very much about empowerment of the femme in me and in everyone. Certain objects carrying certain connotations: the galleon ships and gold inflections refer to the slave trade and the continuous migration of peoples around the world. Decorative wall plaques are cut and manipulated, positioned to create new decorative objects. Silk doll hair and deconstructed perfume bottles consider idealized femininity and how that is commoditized. The upper portion of the perfume bottles are detached, leaving the lower skirt segment as a nod to surrealist artists and as an active representation of the deconstruction of historic feminine tropes.

What do you think people take away from or get from your art?
Hopefully, viewers will have a visceral experience with the work that will move them to consider their connections to historical and decorative objects in their personal lives.

Do you have anything new or exciting in the works that you want to announce?
I am currently preparing a series of canvas works composed of acrylic, collage, and mixed media. Like the assemblage works, the underlying narrative always speaks to the intersection of feminine identity, Caribbean culture, history, and decoration. 

Where do you hope to be in five or 10 years with your art making?
I am compelled to make this work, no matter what, so I hope, I expect, my work will continue to evolve and grow as I do.