Stefanie Girard is a graduate of the Pratt Institute in New York City, with a degree in Industrial Design. Her career includes over 20 years in the Los Angeles TV and Film industry, first as a Set Decorator and then as a Television Producer specializing in how-to programming focused on home arts. This work led her to publishing how-to books as well as designing and producing content marketing for the craft publishing and manufacturing industries. Her own work expresses a unique take on how art functions within community, drawing on a knowledge of craft making, industrial production and public interaction. Her “Art Candy Machine”, a vending machine dispensing small artworks in her Burbank neighborhood, is emblematic of this desire and capacity to successfully move art making and art appreciation outside of museums or galleries and literally onto street corners.
“My current artwork is informed by the power of words and quotations. I strive to artistically elevate selected words through my choices of font, materials, application techniques and presentation surfaces. I strive to combine these elements plus additional images in ironic and unexpected ways to create something that is both aesthetically pleasing and meaningful. My work includes large modular installations created with sometimes unusual, sometimes mundane objects like bricks and paper, embroidery and wood along with traditional acrylic paint, watercolor and porcelain. The best compliment I can receive is for the viewer to have a laugh out loud or “ah-ha” moment as they get the joke or juxtaposition that I have hidden either within the artwork or perhaps in plain view after a bit of contemplation.”
