Troy Dugas

Over the last twenty-five years, my work has moved through several material worlds—meticulous collages made from unused product labels, mixed-media acrylic works, and most recently, fiber-based compositions. The progression is unmistakable. From my earliest years—even in high school, when I imagined a future in fashion design—the pull toward pattern, repetition, structure, and ornament has been constant. My practice has always been driven by a fascination with how humble materials can be transformed, a trait inherited from my grandmother, who made quilts from old clothes, hats from milk cartons, and even silver chalices from gum wrappers. Her ingenuity became a kind of early blueprint.

During my years in art school and while living in New York from 1995 to 2002, that impulse found unexpected outlets. I worked in the fashion industry creating tossed prints for children’s swimwear and pajamas, and later became a designer for Nickelodeon Digital Studios on the children’s show Blue’s Clues. Looking back, the synchronicity feels uncanny—each step along the way aligned seamlessly with the patterns, colors, and visual rhythms that have always shaped my vision. Those experiences didn’t just support my practice; they formed a foundation of play, precision, and design logic that continues to inform the work I make today.

The most recent fiber pieces incorporate hooked fabric, punched yarn, embroidery, found objects, rope, and fringe. They feature motifs rooted in the history of textiles and indigenous folk art, evoking a precarious balance between strength and vulnerability. The combination of these sources reveals a tension between innocence and wisdom, beauty and mortality, nature and the ethereal. Through a meditative and labor-intensive process, the work becomes a site of self-discovery—an ongoing conversation between material, image, and memory. The resulting compositions express my enduring sense of adoration and connectedness to the visual traditions, cultures, and techniques that inspire me.