about:

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       Rivers, when they flood, grab whatever they can get their hands on, bind it together with the force of current, and run fast and hard wherever they please.

        When they’re done flooding, they leave

scattered monuments of debris behind,

physical reminders that say:

“You can't control nature.  Hell,

you can't control anything.”

        My work is inspired by rivers.

It flows through painting and assemblage

to portray movement, space,  the

human form, and serious play.

It struggles between leaving, arriving,

and staying put. Struggle never stops.

Discovery never ends. Arriving never gets

me anywhere but a new point of departure.

       I go round and round trying my best to get there.

       Born in Denver, Colorado in 1952, Monaghan has lived and worked in Chicago since 1977.