Judges 9 / Mary Snyder Behrens
So, I’ve come up with a (somewhat) popular musical analogy, which may prove helpful in approaching the enigmatic and beautiful, collaged work of Dysart artist, Mary Snyder Behrens. The rich colors, carefully chosen elements and implied content in Mary’s pieces are not unlike the essence of a Leonard Cohen song. They are not always “pretty” in their overt presentation. They are thought provoking on multiple levels. They use the artist’s substitute for words, visual materials, with economy and a keen sense of purpose. Mary’s work is intense. It rewards the curiosity of the viewer with an understanding of how line, color, texture and composition shape an abstract, poetic conceit.
Judges 12 / Mary Snyder Behrens
The twentieth century artist, Joseph Cornell, is one whom Mary cites as an influence on her own work. Referring to my text on modern art, I was amused to read H.H. Arnason grappling with the irony of writing about something visual. “Too many words”, was my first thought. Then I realized that, like myself, Arnason reverted to the work of a poet as a reasonable parallel to the work of the visual artist: “…(Cornell’s work) is filled with associations-of home, family, childhood, of all the literature he has read and the art he has seen. The only proper analogy for it is Proust…” So it is with Mary Snyder Behrens- referencing a poet will gain you access to the work.
Judges 19 / Mary Snyder Behrens
Snyder Behrens is one of the five artists to be featured in the Spring Metro Gallery Tour on Friday, April 3, from 5 until 8 p.m. See you then!
In the meantime let me recommend listening to the incomparable Leonard Cohen.
2 Comments
I’ve always enjoyed Mary’s work - I remember a series of pieces based on law textbooks about 5 years ago that were really lovely. I’d be curious to know what the materials and processes are in these new pieces!
In a conversation with Mary about her materials, I was not surprised when the variety of “found” materials included out-dated California law books that she was shredding as mulch for her garden, old papers rescued from a “milk house” on her acreage which she, of course, is refurbishing, old envelopes and all kinds of tape (masking, et al) on which the adhesives and glue have “subtly colored and stained the papers”. Mary’s voracious acquisition of materials has always fascinated me-it’s a rodent-like hoarding of bits and pieces that are intriguingly colored, weathered and textured. The artist acknowledges the poignancy of the obvious history of her materials. Team this sensitivity to media with a her penchant for metaphorical content-its not happenstance that “Judges”, for instance, is both a noun and verb of serious import-and what Mary produces is a dynamite body of work!