Margot Dermody
Margot Dermody (b. Takoma Park, MD) is an artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. Her work was most recently featured in the Spring Show at Mark Rengers Gallery (May 10 – June 21, 2025) and Smallworks at Mark Rengers Gallery (November 1 – December 31, 2024). In 2024, she also participated in Believing in Tomorrow, curated by PxP Contemporary at NoName Gallery in Philadelphia (August), as well as Fluid at Mark Rengers Gallery (through January 6) and Bodies with PxP Contemporary Gallery (through January 31).
Her solo exhibitions include Light Through Stone with Women United Art Movement (June 2023) and The Way of Peace, Forward and Back at the Pittsburgh Federal Courthouse as part of the Art in the Courthouse series (November 2022 – April 2023).
Dermody’s work has also appeared in Stories to be Told, Art Mum’s (2023); Chromatic, PxP Contemporary (2022); Stronger Together, Art Mum’s (2022); Alone, Together, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (2021); Full Circle, Concept Art Gallery (2021); and the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 107th Annual Exhibition at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art (2019–2020). Additional presentations include the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Gallery, William Pitt Union, Gallery One | Collective Works, and the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media.
She participated in the Idea Furnace Artist Residency at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in 2021, where she continues as a studio artist. Her practice brings together elements of the natural world and human emotion in painting and sculpture, ranging from monochromatic to vividly expressive narratives.
Artist Statement
Material transformation and play allow me to engage in an internal excavation of self and suggest concealed aspects of my personal narrative. My daily practice of painting and sculpture breathes freshness into my exploration of nature and humanity. Combining forms through their most elemental properties, I invest in my work with constant courage and integrity, embracing vulnerability.
I use abstraction to process memories and explore connections between human emotion and the natural world. Experiences of survival and growth lead to a search for self-understanding and open up an instinctive relationship with the process of making. This work is not a metaphor but an intuitive mapping of a search for energy and lightness within my body and its psychological relationship to memory, love, and material.
Informed by changing conditions of light and texture, my surfaces often focus on a slightly unstable or transitory state between different elements, such as marble and glass, or layers of paint. The dance of making marks—considering and responding to them—is integral to my process. Exploring personal consciousness through light and shadow, each composition creates a space where an internal feeling is barely gestured to, just beyond visibility or naming. My paintings and sculptures create tension between minimal and overworked areas through building up, scraping down, and alternating intensity. In abstract layers of opacity and translucency, my works ask how to locate beauty in the shadows and bring light into life.
Contact
https://www.margotdermody.com
mbdermody@gmail.com
@margotdermody
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
I’m inspired by light, water, and the natural world. Their energy fuels my curiosity, and that ongoing sense of discovery keeps me returning to the studio.
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
My mission is to find beauty in the shadows and bring fresh light into life. Each painting and sculpture is guided by this intention, transforming materials and emotions into moments of connection.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?
I work intuitively, layering and responding to marks and materials. This dialogue with the work itself grounds me and keeps me present. Balancing my energy with passions outside the studio also renews and sustains my focus.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?
I lean on courage and play. By embracing vulnerability and leaving room for experimentation, challenges become opportunities to grow. Practicing mindfulness helps me stay present and create strong work over time.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I hope my work creates spaces of reflection, peace, and joy—reminders that light and beauty can be found even in difficult times. My art is not only a practice but a daily offering of renewal.
