october - mary ann strandell

Out of the box.

Not seen anywhere else.

 The works of Mary Ann Strandell are

INTENTIONAL.

 

 

Elements are suspended

in a space

some clear - decisive

some vague - out of focus.

She names this

LENTICULAR.

     In her drawing High Tea IV With Seeds  it is the softness of pastel, 
and the erasure of graphite that breathe "transitory states into being." 
A quality that is both illusive and difficult to render. That is key to Mandell's vision.

    Her Matisse-like flourishes with sumi ink are both bold and lyrical. This is not just a counter-balance. It is also translucency. In the drawn medium she sometimes uses ink on Mylar to achieve this.

Transit Square, 24 inches square, 

3D lenticular print on sintra, 2004
Double click on images to enlarge

Her compositions are complex,
in motion, and frozen. 

In her drawing Rotate View Up the artist limits herself to a stark and unforgiving medium, that of sumi ink. She takes on a challenging perspective, and creates a disappearing staircase. Bravo. This drawing gives us clues to what Mandell is interested with. And a point of view each one can respect. She is toying with something championed only by particle physicists, namely quatuum mechanics. Simply put, states of being that shift in front of our eyes.

In her oil paint rendition of the staircase she gives us an idea of her color scheme (above). Her lenticular print making on the same subject (below).

Hotel, Apple Staircase, lenticular print, 16 x 24 inches, 2012

"The Mary Ann Strandell program this past Thursday, Oct 3rd, was very well received and very well attended with 40 attendees by the time the program was finished. This included 2 people from the Bemis Center." John Mallery

Meggan Draper II With Drones, lenticular print

"During the presentation she provided insight into the creation of a large commissioned piece she created for the Polsinelli law firm in Kansas City. This piece is approximately 7 ft high by 30 ft long. Hearing about the creation of the print from the proposal process all the way to the final installation was intriguing. She even invited anyone who was interested an opportunity to view the installed piece that Friday at 1:00 pm. About a dozen people took advantage of her offer. To hear an artist discuss their piece in a place for which it was specifically designed was amazing. It was truly an exceptional experience. 

I think what made her presentation so interesting is her passion and excitement for her work. She is a very successful artist with multiple shows occurring around the country. A show just closed in Charlottesville, Virginia and she has shows opening in New Mexico and New York in the next several weeks." John Mallery

Mary Ann Strandell

See more about Strandell at

http://www.maryannstrandell.com/Site/Home.html

Layout and text by Karl Marxhausen
Lens 2 photos and comments by John Mallery 

Cherry Stairs, 24 x 24”, 3D lenticular print on sintra, 2008, 

(courtesy of Mary Ann Strandell, http://www.maryannstrandell.com/Site/SlideShow_assets/SlideShow.html?lang=en, accessed Oct 27, 
2014)

Links courtesy of Mary Ann Strandell,

http://www.maryannstrandell.com/Site/Home.html

accessed oct. 27, 2014 

http://maryannstrandell.com/Site/SlideShow

_assets/SlideShow.html?lang=en, 

Personal photo, 

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2004179463

/Mary_ann_kc_09.jpg

additional images, courtesy of Snapp Price Projects Gallery, 

http://snapppriceprojectsgallery.blogspot.com/2013

/01/current-exhibitionmary-ann-strandell.html,

accessed Oct 28, 2014)