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As she willingly admits, Behrens inclines toward double-attending or multi-tasking. She prefers to work concurrently on multiple projects (art and other things as well). Not surprisingly, the discoveries made in one project feed into the findings in others. In 2004, for example, while working on Drawn Conclusions, she became interested in torn, discarded paper, perhaps inspired by scraps she found while removing old wallpaper. Surprising color pairs result, enriched by textural signs of decay. In addition, the accidental ripped-edge shapes invite the viewer’s mind to search for meaningful, even pictorial forms. The resulting ambiguities, in a series called Torn Papers (2004), are historically related to “spurious images” or simulacra, as for example the “man in the moon,” or a face in the clouds. In her art, since a single interpretation is not mandated, the “content” is only conclusive in the viewer’s mind.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Judges No 4 (2009). Found paper collage.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Smokes No 05 (2009-10). Discarded package collage.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Judges No 9 (2009). Found paper collage.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Torn Paper [right to left] No 30, No XX, No XX (2004). Found paper collage. Sizes vary..
Her mother died in 2006. That loss, marked by difficult surgeries that ended with her mother’s passing, brought with it emotional hardships. While adjusting to that loss, somehow she also continued to work. It was during this time period that she embarked on a series called Tissue Samples (2006-2007), which explored the effects of translucency in sewing pattern tissues, and Judges (2009), which came from reworking torn pages from outdated law books.
Near the end of the decade, she began a series called Smokes (2009-2010), which no doubt reminded her that she and her husband had been cigarette smokers twenty-five years earlier, until they quit together. These works began by finding (and quietly modifying, compositionally) accidental patterns on crushed and weathered cigarette packages that were picked up randomly on the street.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Tissue Samples (2006-7). Mixed media.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Smokes No 15 (2009-10). Discarded package collage.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Judges No 5 (2009). Found paper collage.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Tissue Samples (2006-7). Mixed media.
Mary Snyder Behrens, End of the Game (2007). Intaglio. Collection of the James and Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts.
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