Gina Phillips comes from Madison County, Kentucky. Her childhood was marked by an absence of conventional modern conveniences, but she was fortunate to be surrounded by a family characterized by a propensity for mechanical, artistic and musical abilities. She learned that no object or material should be thrown away since it could be reused or turned into something else...something functional or something artistic. She spent many summers with her cousins creating their own elaborate environments out of these accumulations. This environment was perfect training for a life as an artist.
When she was 18, Phillips moved to Lexington, Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky. She graduated from UK in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. During these years, Phillips developed into a mixed-media artist who crafted raw, narrative images. She painted and collaged her tragic/comic narratives onto rather large constructions built from a variety of materials culled from her childhood home such as wood, metal and fabric.
In 1995, Phillips moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree at Tulane University. She earned her M.F.A. in the spring of 1997. Phillips’ work continued to be characterized by a raw, narrative quality. However, the bulk of her materials became minimized. She began to focus on fabric as a medium. First, she made paintings on printed fabrics. Her painted imagery mingled with the imagery of the printed fabric she used as a substructure. Then she began making pieces solely out of fabric and thread. Phillips’ work often treads a fine line between three dimensional and two dimensional work. In many ways it functions as painting does, there is the illusion of light and space…but the pieces maintain their “objecthood”. Many of her “quilts” are two-sided. She often avoids framing her work so that there may be easy access to the piece as a whole.
Phillips continues to live in New Orleans. She has an affinity for this city and feels that it provides a good artistic community and enough commercial opportunities. She also appreciates New Orleans’ rustic qualities and its quirky personalities. Phillips bought a house in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans in the summer of 2004. Phillips spent a year repairing this single shotgun, turning half of it into studio space. One week after finishing the project, her house was seriously damaged by Hurricane Katrina. For 10 months she lived in Richmond, VA while she waited for a FEMA trailer to be installed in her backyard. She lived in the FEMA trailer for a year and a half while she repaired her home a second time. She moved back into her house in October of 2007 and has started making art again.
When she was 18, Phillips moved to Lexington, Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky. She graduated from UK in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. During these years, Phillips developed into a mixed-media artist who crafted raw, narrative images. She painted and collaged her tragic/comic narratives onto rather large constructions built from a variety of materials culled from her childhood home such as wood, metal and fabric.
In 1995, Phillips moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree at Tulane University. She earned her M.F.A. in the spring of 1997. Phillips’ work continued to be characterized by a raw, narrative quality. However, the bulk of her materials became minimized. She began to focus on fabric as a medium. First, she made paintings on printed fabrics. Her painted imagery mingled with the imagery of the printed fabric she used as a substructure. Then she began making pieces solely out of fabric and thread. Phillips’ work often treads a fine line between three dimensional and two dimensional work. In many ways it functions as painting does, there is the illusion of light and space…but the pieces maintain their “objecthood”. Many of her “quilts” are two-sided. She often avoids framing her work so that there may be easy access to the piece as a whole.
Phillips continues to live in New Orleans. She has an affinity for this city and feels that it provides a good artistic community and enough commercial opportunities. She also appreciates New Orleans’ rustic qualities and its quirky personalities. Phillips bought a house in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans in the summer of 2004. Phillips spent a year repairing this single shotgun, turning half of it into studio space. One week after finishing the project, her house was seriously damaged by Hurricane Katrina. For 10 months she lived in Richmond, VA while she waited for a FEMA trailer to be installed in her backyard. She lived in the FEMA trailer for a year and a half while she repaired her home a second time. She moved back into her house in October of 2007 and has started making art again.
