Melissa Morgan Fine Art Gallery
Palm Desert, California (The Hollywood Times) – 01-02-2026
Jimmy Steinfeldt: Please tell me about your paintings that are sparkly squares with text.
Andrea Stanislav: I am of Czech descent, however I lived and worked for a decade in Saint Petersburg and Moscow Russia. The square format of the text collages relate to Malevich’s black squares. Much of my work is influenced by popular culture, literature, film, and music, and finding the connective threads between these art forms. The text I incorporated are fragments taken from these cultural references. We’re looking here at quotes and phrases from the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubricks’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey and others. This quote “I’m Sorry Dave I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That“ presents a prescient and cyclical cinematic moment in regards to today’s AI existence, where the HAL 9000 computer is perhaps the first AI computer to revolt against a human. I also incorporate song lyrics that connect to the macro utopic / dystopic zeitgeist in response to the space race of the 1960s – 1970. Zeppelin, the Kinks, and the Sex Pistols are among the music references in my art for this show. This show is anchored in Science Fiction, Russian Cosmisim, and the 1969 moon shot. The Futura Bold font was the official font used by NASA for the 1969 moonshot.
JS: Tell me about these paintings. I see Farrah Fawcett in one of them.
AS: They are an homage to the film Logan’s Run. This is Holly 13, an early role of Farrah Fawcett’s. Also in this series we have Jessica 6 played by Jenny Agutter. These are the females leads in the film. The collage images also include hand cut images from photographs, I took while visiting Giant Rock, and Amboy Crater and Joshua Tree…this image here is of the Integratron. I’m combining (with film reference collaged images) my personal experience of the natural environment of the high desert, and exploration of the sci-fi folkloric nature of the Joshua Tree area. There are also official NASA images which appear prominently within the collages. I was a resident artist for five years at the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow which allowed me access to their archives, including the hi-res image files of Mars and Saturn and other planet positioned within the collages.
There is also the encompassing idea of ascent within all the work. There is an antigravity element to all the collages constructions in the show. These works also reference the sculptures. The eyes are taken out of the female portraits in all of my work, to reveal mirror-like portals – as a way of portraying the females as oracles or seers. Showing the ability to see into the future. My work incorporates a view into the past as well as the present and then onto the future. I’m trained as a sculptor, and I approach the collages as a sculptural act. The collages are very time intensive to create. The digital photographs include images I’ve taken, found images, self-referencing photographs of my own work, and images from pop culture and film.The photographs are situated between layers of resin, and woven with dichroic and refractive papers and films…and then these works are activated by light.
JS: I see you have brought forward the sparkle of the square pieces in your sparkly eye makeup.
AS: Yes, Urban Decay, there’s a plug for them! I do have an extensive collection of glitter eyeliners and eyeshadows.
JS: I read in your biography that you have art at the Weisman Art Museum in my hometown of Minneapolis.
AS: Yes! The Garden of Iron Mirrors is in the Wiseman’s public art collection, and there are six other public art commissions in and around Minneapolis. The sculpture you see here is based on my Garden of Iron Mirrors sculpture, which was a memory commission for the taconite pellet process developed in 1941. I selected the rocks for that sculpture directly from the Iron Range in Minnesota. Half of the surfaces of the cut taconite rocks are polished, exposing the swirling colorful interiors, and half have mirror polished stainless-steel plates shaped to the contour of the rocks attached, reflecting the light and surroundings – within the rock.
JS: I also read you are from Chicago. I’ve spent a lot of time in Chicago especially in the music scene. I photographed Keith Richards at the Aragon Ballroom, Buddy Guy at his club and I’ve even been to the historic Checkerboard Lounge which sadly no longer exits.
AS: When I lived on South Wabash in Chicago, Buddy Guy’s Club was my go-to local bar down the block, and Buddy always let me in for free. Bands such as Aerosmith, the Stones and others visited Buddy’s for a nightcap and a late night jam with the house band, after their arena shows. Chicago was such an organically musically rich city. I grew up there in a family of musicians, and went to the Art Institute, where the art and music scenes were thoroughly intertwined. I was involved with, and inspired by the Chicago punk and industrial music scene, including bands such as Ministry with Al Jorgensen, Die Warsaw, Naked Raygun, and Trenchmouth. The whole Chicago industrial music movement was an early informant in my artwork.
For more info on Andrea: https://www.andreastanislav.com/
