When you walk through an art exhibit, the last thing you expect to be told is, “Yes, you can touch the art.” But in “Poured Out”—the Macon Arts Alliance’s latest exhibit featuring works by Macon artist and designer Mary-Frances Burt—each piece is designed to be felt, encouraging viewers to analyze and interpret their meaning through a tactile lens. For Mary-Frances Burt, “Poured Out” is an experimental series, a foray into uncharted territory that’s much different from her graphic design and painting background. Large-scale, abstract, and a study in movement, “Poured Out” is a reminder of what can be achieved when you use the environment around you as a means of creative expression.
Tell us a little about yourself. Who are you, and what do you do?
I am an artist and a graphic designer. I split my practice between designing book covers for publishers and making fine art. In the last two years, I have been working with recycled paper, creating large-format pieces from post-consumer paper and paint.
Who are some of your biggest influences, artistic or otherwise?
At the moment, I don’t know anyone else making art in this particular way. I’ve studied art for a long time. It would be very difficult for me to point to a particular artist or movement and say it was a primary influence, so I’ll say the biggest influences for me are my family. I could start with my great-grandmother, who, after running multiple businesses, raising a family, and caring for loved ones, began painting at 80 years of age. She painted hundreds of paintings. My own grandmothers were very skilled. If they saw it, they could make it. My mother taught art classes and painted. My sisters are now a constant source of inspiration. One expresses herself through movement, performing in ballet productions in North Carolina, and the other makes fine art custom jewelry in silver and gold using traditional methods.
Pretty much every person who has let nothing deter them from what they want to do is an inspiration to me, regardless of gender, age, or identity. There are so many hurdles to being an artist that anyone who understands or supports an artist is a special person indeed.
In your Artist Talk, you mentioned that you remember what was going on in your life at the time while making each piece. Which piece’s story is your favorite, or the most memorable?
There’s “Celestial,” which is significant to me because it was my first successful piece. I had finally mastered getting color into the paper pulp and figured out how to manipulate the material in a way that pleased me. “Rage” is meaningful because it represents my feelings of powerlessness regarding the loss and abuse of people’s civil rights. The emotions were overwhelming. By making that piece, I was able to process what I was feeling and get my emotions under control. “Conception” is special because it is a visual representation of how inspiration and I interact with each other. Each piece has significance for me. I hope that something of that was transferred into the work to be experienced by someone else.
How do you plan out how you want the design in each piece to look? Is there any method, or do you pour first, plan later?
There are a few ways I approach art-making. One is to do a series of sketches on a subject that interests me. It may be 20 or more drawings, trying different color combinations and compositions. Out of those, I may choose 5 to reference as I’m making my art. Another way is to look at my earlier work, a painting, or a photograph I took myself. “Blue” is an example of that. It started as a small acrylic painting on canvas, and I loved it so much that I wanted to make it much larger. And then there are the times I am trying to process something: Information or emotions. In those instances, I meditate first, try to identify what colors and shapes represent what I’m feeling, and then I work intuitively. No matter how I start, I end up in the same state of being fully present, which is why I choose to make art this way. It’s the process itself that matters the most to me.
Do you see yourself using poured paper for future works, or are there other mediums you’d like to experiment with?
I believe I will be making art this way in the years to come. I’ve made art in many different materials in the past and none has resonated with me in the same way as poured paper.
What keeps you motivated, and what inspires you to create?
Motivation is what makes a person a practicing artist. I don’t need to be motivated by any external force. Creating feels necessary to me. It’s restorative and it makes me happy.
I think the idea that no one else can make my art except me is inspirational. If you can stop thinking about what other people are doing and just focus on your own work, it’s very freeing. It’s permission to experiment as well as permission to fail. Which we all know is a necessary part of actually succeeding at anything.
“Poured Out” is available to view at the Macon Arts Gallery from now until Friday, February 27th.
