Pia Dugger

Artist Statement

I am convinced that there is a direct link between our well-being and nature.

Outdoor-walks and beach visits are perceived to be therapeutic and healing. Especially here in south Florida there are many opportunities to connect with nature.

Nevertheless, we get sucked in to the daily grind and are paralyzed by electronic overstimulation. In addition, we destroy the very thing that heals us by over consumption, pollution and the need for immediate gratification.

I draw inspiration from my personal experiences as a full-time working mother and wife, my love for nature, science, osteology and emotional discovery.

My paintings call attention to the animal or specimen depicted in the center of the image, as if found in a showcase in a natural history museum. Contrasting and bright colors with glitch imagery or graphic patterns surround the animal symbolizing outer influences such as stress, disturbances and struggles.

The natural versus the artificial. The autonomous versus the vicious cycle.

Yet, I remain hopeful that we will remember to return to nurturing mother nature and live in harmony with the environment and others.

Artist Bio

Pia Kristina Dugger is an American-born artist, raised in a multi-cultural household in Sindelfingen, Germany. Growing up in the 1980s, Pia loved watching TV as much as spending time outdoors, exploring nature, and caring for animals.

Early on, her German family instilled in her that hard work and academic success were essential in life. As an A-student who struggled to keep up with high expectations, she also struggled to fit in. Suffering from insomnia and migraine headaches, Pia spent many nights drawing to calm her mind.

In her teens, she continued to seek comfort in art when tensions in her household
became unbearable. In 2001 Pia began studying graphic design at the Akademie
für Kommunikation in Bad-Cannstatt, Germany. Immediately after her graduation
in 2004, she immigrated to the USA for love. Living in Hallandale, Florida, she
experienced culture shock and struggled with the fear of losing herself. She
turned to what she had been taught was the solution to all: hard work. Pia’s
early adulthood was focused on working hard and becoming successful in
corporate America. She married in 2008 and became a mother for the first time
in 2010. There was no longer time for art and self-care.

Her job and career success continued to be a priority until the birth of her second
son in 2015. As a toddler, he rekindled his mom’s love for art and Pia
eventually returned to what had helped and comforted her in the past. Focus on
how the lack of work-life balance made her feel, unattainable expectations as a
working mother and wife and the human disconnect from nature and addiction to
electronics became her subject matter. Initially, painting in acrylics and
later exploring oils. Pia creates paintings in bright colors contrasting with
muted skulls and bones, which stand in the center of her paintings. Pia’s work
highlights the ongoing struggle of natural human beings in a technology- and
profit-driven world.