Mary Babcock

Artist Statement

I am an Hawaii-based visual/performance artist and educator deeply interested in the intersection of art, contemplation and social activism. Mending is a central theme in my work, both as actual reparative action and as metaphor for personal and socio-environmental change. My work is driven by a need to understand and critique my culture, rooted in the desire to bridge two prevailing paradigms for art-making: art as beauty and art as social criticism. Residing in the Pacific, my current focus is on cultural and ecological sustainability in the face of climate change.

Referencing the flooding of the historical town of Vanport, OR - a largely African American community- the work is intended as a cautionary tale regarding the impacts of reckless greed, drawing parallels to current global existential threats and to our apparent acquiescence with climate apartheid.

Bio

Currently Professor of Sculpture / Expanded Practices at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I see my teaching as an act of creative resistance - a means to empower future generations. I am experimenting with ways to extend my teaching outside of the university, creating intergenerational contexts for knowledge sharing and meaning making. Recent bodies of work include Hydrophilia and Deliquesce, in which I explore concepts of absorption and dissolution in the context of sea level rise and climate change. I received my MFA from the University of Arizona and PhD in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I have performed and exhibited work in individual and collaborative contexts nationally and internationally including Korea, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Cyprus, Algeria and Niger. My work is in numerous private and private collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the US Embassy in Niger.

www.marybabcock.com