From my early teens, I spent a lot of time walking urban streets and traveling on public transport in London, and later as a carless 20-something in Washington, D.C.  I paid attention to the pavement I covered and noticed the distressed and forlorn look of trash, lost parts, pieces, and scraps of man-made items.  I started collecting mementos during my walkabouts as treasures I’d assemble on a shelf or mantelpiece.  Years later this has evolved into combining pieces and images in print into shadow boxes, textured collages and mixed media art totems.  I believe the detritus sought out my discovery in order to share its message that something or someone may have been overlooked. 

 

I can relate to that awareness in my own life having felt that I was a wallflower or unobserved spectator in my many years of moving from place to place and school to school while growing up in a Navy family.  I was also fascinated with and studied archaeology in college, and later worked as an archaeologist in London.  I always knew there were hidden stories behind the facade of everyday scenes.  The disparate parts, as it were, as in my life, made up a whole and described my multifaceted personality.  At some point in midlife I gravitated toward bright vivid colors in my own wardrobe and the interiors of my eclectically decorated house, perhaps as a way to proclaim my blossoming creativity and expressionism.  I wanted to announce that the way I view and present myself and objects matter.  In my art, I fabricate my entire environment as a personal tableau about what I’ve seen, found, and felt. 

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Contact Mary: overeverything1117@gmail.com