EP 027: VIRGINIA LEE MONTGOMERY

Image Culture

My guest is Virginia Lee Montgomery, whose new solo show Pony Cocoon is up now at False Flag in Long Island City though March 24th. The show is titled after her new film, following the birth of a Luna moth from a disembodied blonde ponytail, a frequently used symbol in Virginia’s practice. Her films are diffused with these repeated visual motifs. Dripping honey engulfs an object; a power drill bores a perfect hole through the surface of an image; a narwhal’s horn pierces the Arctic water. Images become like recurring characters through her films, which unfold like a surrealist mind-map attempting to make sense of free-associative thought. Concurrent to her art practice, Virginia works as a graphic facilitator, meaning she travels the country diagramming the flow of ideas and concepts for a variety of corporate clientele. The influence of this work is clearly felt in the way she edits her films, taking seemingly disparate ideas and finding the ways they’re interconnected.

We’d like to thank Virginia Lee Montgomery as well as Edwin Lewis, Alexander Heffesse, Jon Huddleson, Whitney Smith, and Mel Hyde at False Flag. You can see my portrait of Virginia in her show at www.williamjesslaird.com/imageculture as well as on instagram @william.jess.laird and @image.culture

You can see Virginia Lee Montgomery’s work at www.virginialeemontgomery.com and you can find the press release for Pony Cocoon at www.false-flag.org

This show is produced by Sarah Levine and our music is by Jack and Eliza.