An American printer, painter and collagist born in 1965, working in Rotterdam and New York. Her work fixes on the sense of otherness being born in America but of Scottish and African decent. Having a biracial identity fuels much of her work by exploring stereotypes predominantly for African American. A portion of her student years were spent on a marine research vessel, studying and drawing on the mysteries of the sea supporting her fascination of microscope life and oceanography. I was drawn to her work because of the themes she explores as my project is partly focused on the desire to know the depths of un answered questions- the sea is a source of inspiration with al th odd creature that are essential to our ecosystem and the exploration of newfound areas. Her themes knit together with her ongoing project titled ‘Watery ecstatic’ combining her knowledge in the marine world and exploration of the myth of Drexciya; an underwater world built up of the unborn babies of pregnant African women that were thrown off slave ships who adapted to breath underwater and survive.

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From a distance you can see delicate swirling water colours, an abstract underwater botanical scene yet up close you are hit with something darker and harder when you discover the small stereotyped black faces ,mimicking minstrel images, stuck to the paper.

Gallagher also explored minimalism through her collages, heavily inspired by Agnes Martin. Involving grid formations and minimalist geometry, it emphasises a sense of power and order binding together her many themes by repeating patterns throughout. ‘Paper cup’ is a large scale canvas layered with sheets of paper lined and imperfectly arranged in rows leaving the paper to wrinkle. Upon closer inspection, the same racist Minstrel faces appear .

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