Malinda (Mindy) Theisman Bray

Malinda (Mindy) Theisman Bray was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1979. She grew up primarily in Phoenix, Arizona, and graduated from Arizona State University with a BFA in Painting and a minor in Spanish in 1999. After working for a time in Phoenix, she moved to earn an MFA in Painting and Intermedia at the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 2005. There, she became involved in set design work with dance and theater. Malinda’s work has been shown in AZ, FL, IA, TN, MI, CO, NJ, and CT, and she has taught at the University of Iowa and Metropolitan State College of Denver. She currently lives and works with her husband Dan in Denver, Colorado.

Statement
My multivalent studio practice involves drawing and painting on paper and the wall, installation, and video work in collaboration with dancers and choreographers. My work is an investigation into the nature of physical and psychic habitation: the way in which we collectively create architectural, environmental, and psychological spaces. Recently, I have become interested in drawing connections between public architecture and the ways in which we attempt to control natural processes, such as snow removal, dams, and erosion control. Through scale and perspective, I create relationships between the viewer’s body and a manipulated environment, referencing the constant struggle we undertake in a futile attempt to control our surroundings, each other, and ourselves. And yet, the work is grounded in sincerity and humility, acknowledging that the necessity to articulate our environment is an intimate act infused with hope.