Mary Coats, "Rock Away"

Artist Statement

Repetition has become an undeniable focus of my work, as I continuously pull from a catalogue of forms. Each work can be considered a portrayal of a unique, but simultaneously familiar, space. These are places I have been or imagined or dreamed of, spaces I have inhabited or imagined or dreamed of. It becomes difficult to tell if these are spaces one can truly enter or inhabit. Perhaps they are imagined, perhaps they are real but one is unable or unwilling to enter. Although each work can be considered individually, the repetition of form, echoing and color play push beyond a single piece. Through these repeated forms a larger, more complex environment is coming to exist, only reachable through recollection. In an attempt to recreate the true essence of a time or place, I am continuously questioning the way I remember things, in hopes to more clearly discern what is true.

Artist Bio

Born in London, England, but raised in Evanston, Illinois, Mary F. Coats is currently based in Lubbock, Texas. She received an M.F.A from the University of Iowa in 2013 where she was awarded the Mildred Pelzer Lynch Fellowship in Painting. Recent exhibitions include Grey|Gray (Matter) at Divisible Projects in Dayton, OH, Under, Over, and Within at Studios on Sheridan in Peoria, IL, Familiar Spirits at the McLean County Arts Center in Bloomington, IL, Funkytown at Urbano Cellars in Berkeley, CA, and Retrieval of the Beautiful at The Painting Center in New York, NY. Coats has taught at the University of Iowa, Grinnell College, and Kirkwood Community College.

Rock Away, mixed media on paper, 9"x12", $150