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Norma Jean Squires
| 1984 | MA | California State University, Northridge | | 1981 | BFA | The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, New York | | 1978 | 1981 | Courses at Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California | | 1961 | Certificate | The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, New York | | 1960 | 1961 | Apprentice to sculptor James Rosati, New York, New York | | 1959 | 1960 | Courses at The Art Students League, New York, New York |
My earlier work addressed a sense of amazement at what technology has uncovered in the 20th century through space exploration and the development of quantum theory. The current work digresses somewhat from this long-time involvement with macro/micro worlds and the spiritual that lies therein. While it still touches on those themes, the images have become more playful, more colorful, more abstract and less formal. Recently my perspective has segued into a more celebratory stance with an accent on the rhythms and energies we share with the inherent music of the inner and outer dimensions of experience as well as the all-encompassing mysteries in between.
Norma Jean Squires was born in Toronto, Canada, and lives in North Hills, California. She is an artist, curator, writer and has also studied dance for the last eight years. After earning a certificate at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1961, she temporarily set painting aside and focused on creating sectional bronze sculptures. These forms eventually evolved into colorful, wall-sized kinetic constructions consisting of wood columns that rotate at speeds as slow as ¼ rpm. A gradual transition back to painting came when she moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and experienced a dizzying change of ambience that served to redefine the direction of her work.
Her paintings and sculptures have been exhibited nationally and internationally during the last 30 years. She has had numerous solo shows at East Hampton Gallery in New York City and has been included in group shows at MOMA Lending Library, New York City; La Jolla Museum of Art, California; and Newport Harbor Museum, California. Her work has also been featured abroad in group shows at Gallery Moos, Toronto, Canada; Galeria Vandres, Madrid, Spain; Nagasaki Museum, Japan; International Art Festival, Pyong Taek City, Korea; Chonburi University, Bangkok, Thailand; Museo del Puerto, Ensenada, Mexico; Fine Art Museum, Yerevan, Armenia; and Atelier Gronard, Paris, France.
Squires has work in many public collections, including Sterling Forest Gardens, New York City; Warner Brothers Records, Burbank, California; City Investing, New York City; Seimans Pacesetter Systems, Los Angeles; Redwood City Public Library, California; and Perkins Building, Glendale, California.
As the staff writer at L.A. Artcore for 10 years, Squires produced a number of feature articles for their exhibition catalogues. Subsequently, she has free-lanced as a consultant and writer of press releases, profiles and catalogues for individual artists. Her own work has been reviewed in Visions Magazine, Artweek, Art News, Arts Magazine and other art publications. A book titled Poem into Life, featuring a suite of paintings illustrating the poem, was published by XLibris and will be available in February 2008.
Squires has co-curated several exhibitions including Angels, Ancestors, and Spirit Guides and Quarks to Quasars. Her work for I Am a Picture Book, one of several children's books she has illustrated, was presented on KCET's "Summer Faire" program in 1980. She is also on staff part-time at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery.
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