Wife, mother to 3 boys...a dog...a cat...and a fish, plus world traveler, Mary’s Lyrical Documentary style landscapes engage the viewer in socio-cultural dialogues with psychological impact. Her award winning work has been exhibited in galleries, can be found in private collections and has been published in various newsprints. Mary continues to work on new meaningful projects while also maintaining her strong focus on community, especially through involvement with organizations that support families. Mary sees Photography as a medium that facilitates communication and expression like no other and enjoys giving back by teaching and mentoring her skills to others.
AWARDS
Waldo R. Larson Photography Award
First Place, Kings Count Art League
COLLECTIONS
KINGS ART CENTER, California
GROUP EXHIBITION
Autumn 2017 FLASHPOINT / The Curated Fridge ; selected by Paul Clamp & curated by Yorgos Efthymiadis
ArtFields Art Festival, South Carolina
AWARDS
Waldo R. Larson Photography Award
First Place, Kings Count Art League
COLLECTIONS
KINGS ART CENTER, California
GROUP EXHIBITION
Autumn 2017 FLASHPOINT / The Curated Fridge ; selected by Paul Clamp & curated by Yorgos Efthymiadis
ArtFields Art Festival, South Carolina
Artist Statement
My interest in Photography is as a medium of communication and involves the study of perception and how we relate to the world around us. I’m especially interested in long term projects where memory affects the perceptions of our surroundings giving relevance to our socio-cultural understanding. It is the naturally occurring tableaus in a landscape which activate a memory, ultimately affecting the perception of a place and it's culture that I document. Drawn to psychological, sociological and conceptual ideas, I don’t seek answers or solutions, but offer reality paused in order for the socio-cultural characteristics to be digested and reflected upon in full. I, personally, refer to my way of seeing and working within a project as capturing socio-cultural landscapes with a psychological intent.
Project Summary
Common Ground depicts the detritus covered landscapes, and the prostitutes that work along the roads, of the Campania region of Italy. This reality is readily seen and accepted within this culture, and in these images the women and the roads become metaphors for the stigma associated with the sexually abused.
Each image represents the separation that exists for the abused within a society. The trees and natural elements reference the Tree of Knowledge between Good and Evil and serve as a reminder that blame is often placed on the innocent (and sometimes naive) just as Eve is held accountable for Adam’s decision.
These women are separated from normal society, set amongst the garbage and treated like trash. We only know them superficially, as voyeurs. At the heart of my motivation for this project was recognizing that these women represent all victims of sexual abuse. Fear of dishonor, pity, being unlovable, assumptions by others that abuse is like a contagious disease, makes those abused feel separate; the detritus of society. Survivors, including these women, have to live with the unfair stigma of shame, disdain, and fear that society attaches to them. In many cases they become incapable of being honest about themselves and their experiences.
I’m asking viewers to question their initial perceptions of the women before them and to consider demand and its impact on human slavery. Look at these women and instead of seeing victims, see heroes. There is an opportunity within these images for discovering self awareness, an opportunity to set aside judgments, to simply respect each other for surviving….and strive for common ground.
Each image represents the separation that exists for the abused within a society. The trees and natural elements reference the Tree of Knowledge between Good and Evil and serve as a reminder that blame is often placed on the innocent (and sometimes naive) just as Eve is held accountable for Adam’s decision.
These women are separated from normal society, set amongst the garbage and treated like trash. We only know them superficially, as voyeurs. At the heart of my motivation for this project was recognizing that these women represent all victims of sexual abuse. Fear of dishonor, pity, being unlovable, assumptions by others that abuse is like a contagious disease, makes those abused feel separate; the detritus of society. Survivors, including these women, have to live with the unfair stigma of shame, disdain, and fear that society attaches to them. In many cases they become incapable of being honest about themselves and their experiences.
I’m asking viewers to question their initial perceptions of the women before them and to consider demand and its impact on human slavery. Look at these women and instead of seeing victims, see heroes. There is an opportunity within these images for discovering self awareness, an opportunity to set aside judgments, to simply respect each other for surviving….and strive for common ground.
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No part of this site, or any of the content contained herein, may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without express permission
of the copyright holder.