Biography

Meg Novotny Bechtel lives in Delafield, Wisconsin and recently received a BA from Mount Mary University in May of 2023. In addition to her Studio Art major, Meg’s decision to minor in Art Therapy deeply influenced her work and methodology as a young artist. Her art often explores the universal trials of life & death, growth & change, and loss & longing. Meg has accumulated over nine years of experience as an active artist, instructing commercial painting and ceramics to individuals throughout the Milwaukee community. Additionally, her art has been informed by her time as a studio manager, Milwaukee Art Museum intern, floral assistant, and summer camp art teacher. Through these positions, Meg has cultivated a passion for the creative process and its ability to heal, transcend borders, and create spaces that allow us to bear witness to both the struggles and celebrations of our communities.

Artist Statement

Throughout my life, I’ve been comforted by the cyclical properties of nature and its elements of fragility, growth, death, and rebirth. As a child, my grandmother would walk me around her neighborhood, directing my attention to subtle changes of the seasons as trees began to shed their leaves, or spring shoots started to emerge from the dormant ground. I adored studying all the plants in her garden, and enthusiastically illustrated my own versions of them when our gardening for the day was done. My grandmother always found abundant joy in the simplest things and exuded a life of gratitude despite its challenges. Because of this, she instilled in me an appreciation for all the metaphorical seasons of life. These memories and lessons became the foundation for my art, and they continue to reside in the floral and anatomical themes of my work.

As I pursued my undergrad studies at Mount Mary University, my grandmother’s health began to slowly deteriorate and decline. Naturally, my work evolved to reflect on this new season of life, and I began using my art to explore the emotional weight that we carry within anticipatory grief. As many of us know, grief doesn’t begin with “death”, but also with the accumulation of little losses leading up to it. After my grandmother passed away, I made a commitment to honor her through the cultivation of my 2023 senior show, which pushed me to challenge myself in content, quality and quantity. Inspired by my studies in Art Therapy, I chose to grieve through the creative process and shifted both my materials and my methods of working. I found healing as I explored the juxtaposition of concealing and revealing elements of these pieces, distorting their subject matter, and channeling my desire to preserve the memories stored within the materials themselves. I hope that my work can speak to everyone’s experience of loss and longing, regardless if it is through the death of person, a part of themselves, or a chapter in their lives.