Mary Gibney, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 52nd 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed super cool artist Mary Gibney. She's great! Mary was kind enough to go to the show I curated in Stillwater and I've always really admired her style and unique approach to painting. Mary has a show called Funhouse Waiting Room opening February 4th at the awesome Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis. You should go! Mary's answers to these questions were inspiring and I think you will agree. Thank you for reading! (Instagram: @marygibneyart  Website: www.marygibneyart.com / All images courtesy of the artist)

Jackson: How did you choose the life of an artist? Did something specific inspire you?

Mary: Like many artists I really liked to draw things when I was a kid, the act of making something was very important to me. My first artistic memory was being frustrated by a kindergarten art project that wasn't going according to my vision of how it *should* look, but even though it wasn't perfect I persisted, which has sort have been my lifetime routine of how I paint and make things. Almost all my paintings start with an idea that changes in some way while I'm working on it. For me, frustration can access something deeper. I work until it is right, whatever that means. In that sense I think the elements of color and pattern have to come together in a way that also reflects feeling. I value emotion over skill.

Jackson: How do you choose the subjects for your paintings? Are you influenced by you surroundings?

Mary: My subjects have varied over the years. I really love painting faces so I have found inspiration in vintage mugshots, bar patrons, faces of strangers in a crowd. Also circus sideshow performers and so-called freaks, bodies and body parts. Lately I've been painting bar scenes, full of imaginary characters. In that case I am influenced by my surroundings, since I love a good dive bar, especially to hear live music. It's very freeing to make up these situations because in art there are no rules!

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Mary: I would love to spend a day with Alice Neel, hanging out in her living room as she paints. Just to watch her brushstrokes and color choices and listen as she chats with her subject. I saw a wonderful retrospective of her art last year in New York, and her lifetime body of work is so inspiring. Her apartment is still intact, with canvases stacked in the halls and leaning on walls, so I'm hoping one day it will be an Alice Neel house museum.