Mariah Livingston

Mariah Livingston

[BFA] Ceramics with Minor in Psychology

What Memory is This?

The elegance and eeriness of nature has always captured my attention and influenced my artwork. What Memory Is This? explores specific locations in nature that embody childhood memories, emotional connections to spatial awareness and the fragile beauty of small details. Throughout my youth, I spent the majority of my time in two very different environments, the vast open fields of South Dakota and the dense dark woods of Northern Minnesota. Although contrasting, both experiences caused me to question, think and explore the wonders of nature.

The expansive fields of South Dakota created a sense of meditation when the rolling hills blurred together and eventually become unified with the sky. This sensation of overwhelming vulnerability, and resignation to the expansiveness, is embodied in my work through the representation of flowers. The small and delicate flowers that populate the majority of fields and ditches, can be easily crushed by the South Dakota wind. The thick forests of Northern Minnesota are suffocating and looming, but I found this enveloping embrace to also be comforting. This experience is present in my work through the representation of fluidity in the way that branches on trees appear when they are bare. To see these aspects, I would find myself completely immersed in these forests, much how one has to be to see my work.

In What Memory Is This?, I have unified these experiences to create dark but alluring scenes of nature. It is my desire that they unfold to an intriguing portal, eliciting emotions and a sense of wonder. I portray a sense of intimidation for the viewers, to guard these memories with my monochromatic pallet but will draw one in with the small details in this work.