Artist Statement
Blooms and ice are temporary; the photograph becomes the permanent art object – the record that they once briefly existed. This work reflects that which is ethereal, exquisite, spiritual, and ephemeral. I’m intrigued by the Japanese idea of Hanami, flower viewing, and floral designs of Japanese prints. The suspended blooms are evocative of art historical works such as the whimsical floral details in Botticelli’s painting Birth of Venus, where flowers fall against sky and sea and the floral laden landscapes of Fragonard. As a gardener, I’m very interested in the symbolism of plants. Much of the flora in this project comes from my garden or friend’s gardens.
Mary Kocol was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and now lives and photographs in the Boston area.
Her pictures were first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art’s groundbreaking group exhibition and catalog, Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort in 1991. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship for photography in 1993. Her photographs have been published in Aperture, The New York Times Magazine, DoubleTake Magazine, The Boston Globe, and are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.
Mary Kocol is represented by Gallery NAGA in Boston.
For a list of recent exhibits please visit www.MaryKocol.com
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