Shibori #78
Acrylic, Dura-Lar on cradled panel
Art Dimensions: 72" x 48" x 2"
Exhibition - Depth: Layers in Translation
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Artist Biography
Mary Zeran creates places of happiness. Spaces full of delicious color, long expanses, odd quirky shapes, and patterns suggesting the unknown.
The artist holds a B.F.A. and M.F.A in art from University of Iowa. Zeran’s collage are shown internationally, with exhibitions at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA, and Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Her work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA, U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, IA, Harvard Business College, Boston, MA, and United Fire Group, Los Angeles, CA. Artist Residencies, and public commissions include Oregon College of Arts and Crafts Residency, and a 2% for the Arts Purchase Prize from the Visual Arts Commission in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her work is included in the book "Chunghi Choo and Her Students", published by Arnoldsche, Stuttgart, Germany, The New Art Examiner, and Artweek, Seattle, WA.
Zeran currently lives and works in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Artist Statement
Slick, transparent polyester film and acrylic paint are my materials of choice. Painting on an uneven work table allows the paint to slip and shift, creating slurries of bold color. These slurries create lines and wave patterns.
I’m an assembler. I construct my paintings by laminating multiple sheets of polyester film on top of each other. My ceramics are created by combing different slabs.
I grew up in a family of women artists. Textiles, embroidery, and woodcarving were their visual language. Abstracted shapes and forms were their words. Each time I pick up a brush or scissors, I immerse myself in the language of my family. As I abstract flowers, trees, and all the colors of nature, I speak her mother tongue. This language brings me closer to my family’s traditions, histories, and stories.
