Approved: 01.08.2007

Mary Fletcher

Artist, Film-maker, Writer

Approved: 01.08.2007

I wander at the edges, a flaneuse, observing, seizing fragments by drawing swiftly or using a video camera, and I express my ideas in a personal way employing a diaristic confessional mode that communicates clearly to reach the power of universal meaning, and to engage a wide audience. Educated in the sixties; empowered by feminism and by psychotherapy; through art I give shape to myself and become

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Thoughts

     

    Artist Statement

    I wander at the edges, a flaneuse, observing, seizing fragments by drawing swiftly or using a video camera, and I express my ideas in a personal way employing a diaristic confessional mode that communicates clearly to reach the power of universal meaning, and to engage a wide audience. Educated in the sixties; empowered by feminism and by psychotherapy; through art I give shape to myself and become a woman who speaks of her life in the twenty-first century. My most distinctively vivid imagery has resulted from confronting personal painful experiences of grief, following the murder of a partner by strangers, finding out family secrets which include child abuse, and coming to terms with involuntary childlessness. Work transforming personal pain into art has taken the form of painting, installation, sometimes inviting direct participation by the visitor, and video. I am aware of following on from a heritage of women such as Kathe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Sophie Calle, Tracey Emin. I continue to make work which is rooted in seizing the moment via swift observational figurative drawing - a skill practised over 40 years to attain an expressive economy of linear fluency. These fragments of research can be developed in vibrant paintings or ceramic figures that capture a sense of movement and rhythm. These often celebrate everyday enjoyments in the same sort of way as Bonnard, an artist I have loved since I was first an art student in the 1960s. The use of swiftly captured fragments also applies to works where I have collaborated to invite other people's contributions of images, words or stories told in sound or video. Here the art can begins in brief one-to-one encounters with people who need to be approached with care and respect - an egalitarian aesthetic.

    CV & Education

    Public realm 2009 - A Giant Leap, The old Motor World building, 51, Cross St.,Camborne, Cornwall., Camborne. Qualifications and training 2006 - MA Contemporary Visual Art, University College Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall. Solo exhibitions 2013 'A Year in My Studio' St.Ives Arts Club, 2011 - 7 Days at the Salthouse 'The Money Trick', Salthouse Gallery, Norway Square, St.Ives 2011 - 2009 - Some People..., Library - Upstairs Gallery, St.Ives 2003 - 'Greek Holiday' and 'A Visit to the Past', St Ives Arts Club, St Ives, Cornwall Group exhibitions 2012 - 4:33, Cornwall Media Resources, Redruth 2006 - 'At This Point' MA show, University College Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall 2006 - 'Outsider moving image outdoors', selected, Cornwall Film Festival, Falmouth, Cornwall Live/Performance 2008 - Carbon Footprint and the Last Taboo, The Gallery at Helston Hospice shop basement, Helston 2008 - Drawn Here, St.Ives Arts Club and St.Ives Library, St.Ives Artist talks 2012 - Woman with a movie camera 2, St Ives Arts Club, Wescott's Quay, St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives Residencies 2012 - Hypatia's Handbags, Hypatia, Penzance 2006 - Provisional Newlyn, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall 2005 - 'Sandplay', participatory event for 'Transition 6', Newlyn Gallery education space, Penzance, Cornwall Competitions, prizes and awards 2010 - "The Edge' Jury Award best experimental /Non-Narrative Short Film for "My Uncle was always at Grandma's", Cornwall Film Festival, Falmouth,  2023 Solo at Cafe Art,St.Ives in April