Transitions: Behind the work with Kay Hartung and Mary Marley
This month in the main gallery Transitions features core artists Kay Hartung and Mary Marley. The exhibition, runs through August 1, 2021. In this blog post, Kay expands upon the concepts behind the work and Mary gives us behind the scenes access to her studio practice.
BEHIND THE WORK
Kay Hartung
Why was the title Transitions selected?
When Mary and I were paired for this show we were both creating paintings with encaustic. Over the course of two years our work has changed and both of us started working in different media, and using various mixed media techniques. We played around with several different titles but “Transitions” seemed very appropriate because of the changes in our work.
Can you talk about the specific changes in your work?
I needed a break from painting. Working with encaustic can be a very long and involved process. I started doing encaustic monotypes which can be a very spontaneous way of creating prints. You basically are drawing with wax onto a hot metal plate and then laying down paper to make the print. I began making patterned monotypes by layering patterns on top of each other. I then worked with pan pastel with stencils to lay down more pattern. I was fascinated by the way opposing patterns could come together to form new relationships.
When the pandemic hit, and we were sheltering at home, I could not continue my studio work so I set up a loom at home and began weaving rugs in complex patterns. I had not woven anything in almost 30 years. Though I don’t consider the rugs part of my serious body of work, I think the return to weaving influenced me in various ways. When our studio building opened again I had trouble focusing due to all the political turmoil going on. I began cutting the monotypes up into strips and weaving them back together. I was delighted with how contrasting patterns related in the woven structure. These simple paper weavings led me to do the wall installation. I have also started to create 3 dimensional wall installation pieces with the patterned strips.
A STUDIO VISIT
Mary Marley
“So all you stumblers who believe love rules, Believe love rules, Believe love rules, Come all you stumblers who believe love rules, Stand up and let it shine, Stand up and let it shine.”
Welcome to my studio tour, located in Millis, MA. It's not a large space, but I'm tremendously grateful that it's mine as I work with freedom, without distraction, and with the music volume turned up. Music is an integral part of my studio practice and the repetition of favorite music contributes to my ritual of creating. My ideas often come from the lyric of a song, or a text that I'm reading, or a meditation from the Book of Psalms. Here I can stumble forward working on many paintings at once to create a continuity of work and to allow each piece to unfold.
Over the years I have painted with oils, encaustic, and for the past five years or so, with mixed media. Working in abstraction, my work is about energy, chaos, and order. I use many layers of paper and paint with partly obscured text buried underneath. I work on 30 x 22 inch Stonehenge 330 lb. watercolor paper for purely practical reasons. This paper is bullet proof and can withstand the abuse of repeated washing and heavy mark making techniques.
My studio is full of piles of paper from repurposed paintings, interesting patterned paper, sheet music, and disassembled books. I am a stumbler, and that makes me well suited for creating collage. It's like a treasure hunt, rooting around and experimenting with everything I have on hand while attempting to move toward wholeness. Pieces are spread out on the floor as I rotate paintings, one after the other, to allow time for a composition to evolve. Looking at and working on many pieces propels me forward with distinct visual challenges slowly coaxing cohesion out of chaos.