Artist Biography
Mary is a self-taught sculptor, working in the medium of fired ceramics. She exhibits her work through galleries, in Canada and the US, and has shown work internationally. She has degrees in Art History, and Classical Archeology, and has studied Craft and Design.Artist Statement: My work is inspired by the commonplace activities of the Animal and Natural World: the common lives of the Animals and Birds that surround us, of the Seen and Unseen. It is a world that is always on the edge of our perception, though we often do not pay heed to it, to give it our full awareness. This space, or Awareness, feels like an In Between space, or Liminal Space, that ties our busy noisy world to that of the Unknown. It becomes a place that, for me, conjures Myth and Folklore.
Reading is my most treasured activity and I draw much of my inspiration for my work from novels, and narratives by JA Baker, Thoreau; the cultural ecology of David Abrams, Robert McFarlane, and Roger Deakin, as well as poetry, from William Blake to Seamus Heaney, from Mary Oliver to Ted Hughes.
With a degree in Art History, my world became filled with inspiration from historical painting such as The Symbolists and Pre-Raphaelites, as well as a love for children's Book illustrations from the Nineteenth century. The Aesthetic Movement of the Arts and Crafts as well as the Art Nouveau, Gothic architecture, and Medieval Tapestries fill the world with such beauty and Narrative that cannot but inspire.
Living in the countryside, I have found that the natural world and its inhabitants have replaced the hustle and bustle of the life in the small city, where the birds of prey, deer and otter have become my constant companions. I am constantly reminded of Baker’s observation “The hardest thing of all to see is what is really There.” One must stop to really See, and to Listen.
