Made In Medway: Local artist, distorting & exploring the female image with collage

The Look Out Series, 2019.

"How does a woman develop her sense of subjectivity and identity? Fiori’s work is a response to this question and investigates gender roles and themes of motherhood, sexuality, body image, beauty, and anxiety" Artist Statement

Born and raised in Medway, Noelle Fiori, grew up in a predominantly female household where her interest in subjectivity, identity, and feminism first began. She went to college to study fine arts, and received her Masters in Fine Art at the Art Institute of Boston. There working on her thesis, she explored how the products women use, and the expectations they communicate, negatively impact how women view and construct their own identities. She sought to dismantle, and redefine these images from the mass media using collage.

Noelle explores these various images through hand cut collage, using her photography, juxtaposed images and creating new forms.

Characteristic Gestures 2, Acrylic and collage on panel, 2013.

Blood Orange, Acrylic and collage on panel, 2013

Now a mother and a high school art teacher, Noelle still finds time to create as a form of expression as an Interdisciplinary artist. Her inspiration is her own personal experiences of life and motherhood.

"My current work still addresses the sexualized female body portrayed by the media, but also how anxiety can be conveyed through the body, and representing the female as strong, powerful, and multidimensional." Fiori

Noelle's Encaustic work from 2017

Encaustic is a wax based paint (composed of beeswax, resin and pigment), which is kept molten on a heated palette. The word 'encaustic' comes from the Greek word enkaiein, meaning to burn in, referring to the process of fusing the paint.

Submerged IV, Encaustic collage on panel, 2017.

Submerged VI, Encaustic on panel, 2017

Submerged III, Encaustic on panel, 2017.

"I think the female is multifaceted, full of layers and contradictions. Oftentimes we see ourselves as a collection of parts, which is why the broken aspect of collage is so fitting for my medium" Fiori

Interdisciplinary arts are a combination of arts that use an interdisciplinary approach involving more than one artistic discipline. Interdisciplinary artists apply at least two different approaches to the arts in their artworks. Often a combination of art and technology, typically digital in nature, is involved.

In the 2019 Series: The Look Out, Noelle is addressing as a mother with young children, we often stay inside their young world, neglecting our own.

"Motherhood is so demanding that I think my anxieties became more of a focus in my work because I could not ignore them anymore. My work also shifted to demonstrate the feelings of being more confined and stuck in the home which motherhood can make one feel at times with young children. Look Out Series was addressing those ideas. However, at the same time motherhood is one of the most fulfilling and beautiful experiences I have had. So am interested in these contradictions in life that come through in my work." Fiori

The Look Out Series, 2019.

The Look Out Series, 2019.

Rosy, Multiple Exposure Collage, 2020.

Head in the Sand, Multiple Exposure Collage, 2020.

Multiple Exposure Collage, 2020.

In 2021, Noelle experimented with hand cut collages with digital images multiple exposure techniques. These works continue to explore notions of identity, feminism, anxiety and body image.