artist statement

Mary’s process involves constant exploration. She searches for vintage books and magazines at thrift stores and estate sales, looking for pictures that she lovingly refers to as “collage gold.” The most promising finds are added to her ever-growing collection. With each new work, she rummages for forms and figures that can hold their own outside of their original context. Cultural curiosities, Mother Nature’s beautiful and bizarre, and past representations of modern-day life find new homes as characters in her artwork.

Repurposing images from another time allows Mary to enjoy styles of the past while contemplating and critiquing their context. She questions the initial intent of the source material. What message does it send? What fantasy does it sell? Who does it celebrate? Who does it underestimate? She playfully assigns new roles for the depictions, intentionally giving the overlooked a chance to shine.

Behind the scenes, a “waste not, want not” mentality permeates. Using found materials saves them from becoming trash that lives in a landfill. It also encourages Mary to work with unexpected shapes and move beyond collage. Layers of paint between paper collage add depth and intrigue. She even saves her collage scraps, using them to make handmade paper that appears in later iterations of her work.

bio

Mary completed her first collage series in 2013 as part of the Fun-A-Day Project, making one collage per day for an entire month. Since then, her love of the medium and its possibilities continues to grow. She regularly exhibits in galleries and art spaces in Greater Boston. Mary enjoys customizing her images into album artwork for local musicians. Work from her Living for Today series adorns the Studio Allston Hotel as wallpaper. And a collaborative animation centered on the effects of climate change at a local level won an award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She is a member of Cambridge Art Association and proudly serves on its board of directors. Above all, she is grateful for her supportive husband, joyful daughter, and nosy cat, who inspire her to stay curious.