Biography Mary was born and raised in San Diego, CA and received her BFA in Painting, Photography, Printmaking from SDSU. After MFA courses at UC-Santa Barbara and a career as a graphic designer, she returned to SDSU for her secondary teaching credential in Art/ESL. She completed her Masters in Teaching in Creative Arts at Bridgewater State College (2006).
Artist Statement In my painting and mixed media work, I collect and combine images to form a psychological landscape. I construct my art intuitively from both old and new fragments and enjoy working in a series to find the formal connections and personal symbols which emerge as the work develops.
Painting to me is about the evolution of my images. The final
pieces come from much editing, reworking and sometimes struggling. I work on
multiple pieces at once to avoid getting attached, before they're finished...and I believe this allows symbolic clues to develop. Layers
develop as the pieces age and I return to them over a period of time.
My photography begins in a specific, physical space which has left
a lasting impression on me. By exploring the landscape and making art,
I connect intimately to a place and the unfamiliar slowly becomes known
to me through this experience. I am transformed by a space, or by an object
I discover in a location. My feelings and thoughts develop internally
as I work and reflect.
Themes in my work include: sense of place, memory, time, the old & abandoned, mundane & everyday objects, transformation, impermanence, and home.
