OM.2022.001 - Mary Ellen Long - USA
OM.2022.001 - Mary Ellen Long - USA - REMAINS - collage on paper - 11.25 x 8 inches - gift of the artist
ARTIST STATEMENT
When I look back on my sixty years of making art, the arc swings over the word PAPER - art on paper and of paper. My love of paper has always connected to nature such as in the Winter Pressing and Talisman series; collected book pages evolve into collage; paper made from fibers of Asian origin become assemblage and sculptural forms; ephemeral handmade papers appear in my installations in nature and gallery settings; and many varieties of paper are used in my artists' book forms.
I began making works with paint and progressed to printmaking which included silk screen, intaglio, and lithography. My early influences were California artists including Corita Kent where text and image informed my prints. Returning to school in the 70’s, I was introduced to the artists’ book movement, mixed media, and collage and began experimenting with dimensional ideas and non-illusionary materials. LenoreTawney and Joseph Cornell inspired this work. Throughout this period, nature and cultural event were prime sources for my ideas.
Forty years ago I moved from an urban environment to an isolated mountain landscape, leading me to themes documenting nature and ritual from the distant past. My outdoor site installations place me in the progression of earth artists that have worked with land forms and natural elements. I have chosen to intervene in nature subtly, with a primary interest in process and time-influenced projects. For nine years I worked in the Edgemont Highlands development in Durango.Colorado, creating environmental installations along the wild trail system there. I have created environmental site works in sculpture parks and conservancies in the U.S. and Canada. In the spring of 2008 I created a large environmental site work at the Denver Botanic Garden in Chatfield, CO. Along with these outdoor installations, I have also created indoor installations that involved environments of handmade paper and natural elements. The film “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” has been made that documents this work. Artists’ books, editioned and one-of-a-kind, have been an important element in my work throughout the years. They allow me to document my environmental statements and other subjects such as family, the process of aging, and cultural issues. Also my work in the collage medium has the book being a primary theme. In 2019-2020 I completed two projects that dealt with “time” and a stroke that left me with a speech problem. During the pandemic my work returned to color and to experiments with “controlled chaos”. My art continues to explore, evolve and change.
When I look back on my sixty years of making art, the arc swings over the word PAPER - art on paper and of paper. My love of paper has always connected to nature such as in the Winter Pressing and Talisman series; collected book pages evolve into collage; paper made from fibers of Asian origin become assemblage and sculptural forms; ephemeral handmade papers appear in my installations in nature and gallery settings; and many varieties of paper are used in my artists' book forms.
I began making works with paint and progressed to printmaking which included silk screen, intaglio, and lithography. My early influences were California artists including Corita Kent where text and image informed my prints. Returning to school in the 70’s, I was introduced to the artists’ book movement, mixed media, and collage and began experimenting with dimensional ideas and non-illusionary materials. LenoreTawney and Joseph Cornell inspired this work. Throughout this period, nature and cultural event were prime sources for my ideas.
Forty years ago I moved from an urban environment to an isolated mountain landscape, leading me to themes documenting nature and ritual from the distant past. My outdoor site installations place me in the progression of earth artists that have worked with land forms and natural elements. I have chosen to intervene in nature subtly, with a primary interest in process and time-influenced projects. For nine years I worked in the Edgemont Highlands development in Durango.Colorado, creating environmental installations along the wild trail system there. I have created environmental site works in sculpture parks and conservancies in the U.S. and Canada. In the spring of 2008 I created a large environmental site work at the Denver Botanic Garden in Chatfield, CO. Along with these outdoor installations, I have also created indoor installations that involved environments of handmade paper and natural elements. The film “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” has been made that documents this work. Artists’ books, editioned and one-of-a-kind, have been an important element in my work throughout the years. They allow me to document my environmental statements and other subjects such as family, the process of aging, and cultural issues. Also my work in the collage medium has the book being a primary theme. In 2019-2020 I completed two projects that dealt with “time” and a stroke that left me with a speech problem. During the pandemic my work returned to color and to experiments with “controlled chaos”. My art continues to explore, evolve and change.
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