When an artist can command an entire gallery for a solo exhibition of their works, there is no doubt perfection has been achieved. The artist may not be able to accept that they have reached perfection in their chosen form of artistic expression, but the viewing public recognizes it immediately. Such is the case with the Marion Art Center’s newest solo exhibition of works done by Mary Ross.
Ross’ career spans more than 60 years, years that began with Mount St. Joseph Academy in Brighton where her talent was noted and encouraged. She attended Saturday morning art classes held at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and then was a full-time student there between 1945 and 1948.
Family responsibilities may have briefly interfered with her pursuits as she explains in her biography, saying she cared for her mother while the rest of her family enlisted in the military. Ross found refuge and replenishment in art.
Ross would eventually become the art director for Boston Parks and Recreation, teaching both children and adults the fine points of painting. She has been associated with the Marion Art Center for decades and has volunteered for at least that long during sidewalk art sales.
Not surprising to anyone who knows Ross, she continues to coordinate art shows that give emerging artists as well as those who have been holding brushes for years venues for exhibitions. The Marion Council on Aging has become one such location. While others in her rarified stage of life – Ross turned 95 this month – she still plans art exhibits which take about a year to fully execute.
When speaking with the artist, whose pleasant voice has a lilt belying her age, one is transported into a world of creative imaginings. Her subject matters run the gamut, drawing from the natural world and places both near and far from Dexter Beach. There are Arabian, Asian and traditional influences that can be found in her floral, whimsical, dramatic or often dreamlike finished works.
This solo exhibit spans decades starting in the 1960s to the 2000s. The visitor will find in the first-floor gallery mixed-media pieces, paintings and richly layered collages.
It was while attending MassArt that Ross was introduced to the process of creating visual artworks from ripped paper. She began by using wallpapers but found the material too thick and heavy. Rice paper became her go-to medium. She explained that she began by making her own rice paper to create her visions.
Serendipity would come into play when Ross made the acquaintance of a papermaker. Ross abandoned making her own paper. Sometime later when the papermaking crafter told Ross she was discontinuing papermaking, the two struck a deal. Ross could have the remaining paper inventory if she would create an abstract from some of the paper in exchange. Today Ross still has some of that rice paper in her supplies.
The MAC’s second-floor gallery is an homage to both Ross and the art of collage making. These flowers, mermaids, seasides, castles, birch forests and so much more are painstaking constructed. But for Ross this form of art is forgiving.
“With oils you can’t really change your mind,” she explained. Oils take a long time to dry and cannot be manipulated easily. Acrylics, although easier to work with, still cannot be manipulated. “With collages, I can move things around and get them exactly where I want them before I glue them down – I can change my mind,” Ross stated.
“When I was painting, I did more traditional subjects,” she shared. “With paper I can be more flexible.”
Ross commented that she never wanted to get bored committing her time to a specific technique. “If I reached a point where I couldn’t reach the next step, I’d do something else.” Yet she has never tired of collage making and has reached and surpassed many steps in her quest to get it just right.
Ross’ sense of color and its impact is evident, whether she is using it to make a subtle comment to a scene or a bold commanding statement. And then there are the extras. Mermaids are festooned with unruly hair that punctuates their angelic faces. They are wonderfully joyous little creations.
And joy is the overall takeaway from this truly masterful exhibition. A retrospective of a life’s works that gives us a moment to reflect on superlative technique, inventive subject matter and at last, beauty. The Mary Ross Retrospective is on view now through August 5.
Marion Art Center
By Marilou Newell