Click here to return to Mary Fortuna's photos
Mary Fortuna
I have been active in the Detroit art community for more than 25 yrs. I graduated with a BFA from Wayne State University in 1992. I have exhibited my work all over Michigan; in Berlin, Germany; Bregenz, Austria; Beijing, China; Prague, Czech Republic; Mirabor, Slovenia; and elsewhere in the United States. I am a member of artist collectives The Slippery Weasel Society and Changing Cities/Moving Walls. I worked for 13 years at Paint Creek Center for the Arts, as an Exhibition Director and Education Coordinator. These days I work as a cook and in my studio.
Puppets and dolls and animals and fantastic creatures of all kinds are some of my favorite things. I make them any way I can - sculpture, drawing, painting, collage, assemblage, whatever I come up with - nothing is off limits. I’m more interested in the objects themselves than in any specific narrative. I make whatever magical figures I can conjure up and leave them to suggest their own stories. In the past several years I've experimented with all sorts of materials, including leather, fabric, clay, wood, papiér mache, reed, beeswax, bone, human and horse hair, feathers, beads, buttons, found objects, paint and more. My creatures range in scale from a few inches to many feet, depending on the space available to me. I’m never happier than when I can give myself a new problem to solve.
Some of the artists and things that influence and excite my imagination:
Ray Johnson
H. C. Westerman
Annette Messager
Christian Boltanski
Paul Klee
Talking animals
Masks and costumes
Puppets of all kinds
Carnival celebrations all over the world
The Hindu Pantheon
Handmade toys
Inuit carving
Persian miniatures
Tarot
Sympathetic magic
Devils and demons and monsters
Myths, fairy tales, legends and stories
Puppets and dolls and animals and fantastic creatures of all kinds are some of my favorite things. I make them any way I can - sculpture, drawing, painting, collage, assemblage, whatever I come up with - nothing is off limits. I’m more interested in the objects themselves than in any specific narrative. I make whatever magical figures I can conjure up and leave them to suggest their own stories. In the past several years I've experimented with all sorts of materials, including leather, fabric, clay, wood, papiér mache, reed, beeswax, bone, human and horse hair, feathers, beads, buttons, found objects, paint and more. My creatures range in scale from a few inches to many feet, depending on the space available to me. I’m never happier than when I can give myself a new problem to solve.
Some of the artists and things that influence and excite my imagination:
Ray Johnson
H. C. Westerman
Annette Messager
Christian Boltanski
Paul Klee
Talking animals
Masks and costumes
Puppets of all kinds
Carnival celebrations all over the world
The Hindu Pantheon
Handmade toys
Inuit carving
Persian miniatures
Tarot
Sympathetic magic
Devils and demons and monsters
Myths, fairy tales, legends and stories
Click here to return to Mary Fortuna's photos