Introduction
Mary A Waters is an Irish artist living and working between The Netherlands and the west-coast of Ireland.
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The area that interests Mary Waters very much and that she addresses in her work is the relevance of European visual imagery to many of the people living in The West. Because she comes from a country with a long and troubled history with colonisation; when these images were presented to her despite the fact that she was a white, western European Christian, they were not hers in any real sense. They carried a message of the superiority of the bearer who almost always came from abroad. Because of the poverty in Ireland there was little or no indigenous visual art tradition. The ‘otherness’ of western art was something she felt strongly. At the same time the beauty and obvious worth of these images attracted her greatly.
She believes this is something very many people living in the west right now are experiencing.
To cook your hare you must first catch it! (Dostoevsky) | 160x120cm oil on canvas
Boy with Leopard Cub | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Girl with Blue Bird of Prey | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Girl with Blue Cat | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Woman with Baby | 160x120cm oil on canvas
Girl with Blue Sunflower | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Twins with Sables | 210x190cm oil on canvas
Dutch Sisters | 190x200cm oil on canvas
Two Infantas | 200x190cm oil on canvas
Twins with Gold Chains and Cherries | 200x185cm oil on canvas
Diptych | 180x240cm oil on canvas
Twins with Red Vests | 160x150xm oil on canvas
Girls mirrored diptych | 200x300cm oil on canvas
Girl with Cherries | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Girls mi She thought it would be better together | diptych 180x240cm oil on canvas
Garcia, Giovanni’s brother | 180x180cm oil on canvas
Portrait of a French woman | 150x200cm oil on canvas
Giovanni | 200x190cm oil on canvas
Head after Del Sarto | 140x300cm oil on canvas
Woman with Dog | 160x120cm oil on canvas
Portrait of an Italian Man | 150x200cm oil on canvas
The Banker | 150x200cm oil on canvas
Girl with Cat | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Head, after Caravaggio | 140x300cm oil on canvas
Sister & Sunflower | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Portrait of a Flemish Girl | 200x150cm oil on canvas
Silhouette with Sunflower | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Girl in White Dress, Blue Stripe | 135x115cm oil on canvas
German Twins | Diptych 2x 95x80cm oil on canvas
Girl in White Dress, blue stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Woman in Red Dress, pink stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Woman in Green Dress, yellow stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Girl with Armillary Sphere, yellow stripe | 140x120cm
Young Girl in Red Dress, green stripe | 150x130cm
Blue sleeves, blue stripe | 150x130cm oil on canvas
The Bird, purple stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Red Woman, double green stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Portrait of a Woman after Cranach | 140x120cm oil on canvas
If I had time, I would | 155x135cm oil on canvas
Woman in Green Dress, blue stripe | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Girl with Blue Parrot | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Woman in Red Dress with Gold Headband | 140x120cm oil on canvas
Garcia, Giovanni’s Brother | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Why not Pandora | 110x100cm oil on canvas
Giovanni, Boy with Bird | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Boy with Sash | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Woman with Fur Cuffs | 150x200cm oil on canvas
Only in destroying I find ease | 110x100cm oil on canvas
Boy with Flowers | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Silhouette with striped dress and sunflower | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Woman with Dog | 105x90cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 42 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 35 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 23 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 39 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 04 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 34 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 37 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 36 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Portrait no 38 | 95x80cm oil on canvas
Short text about painting
All of the source images for my work are taken from European (mainly Italian Dutch, Spanish and English)painting from the 14th to the 19th century.
These images are seen by most of the western world as embodying the best in us.
They are iconic and unquestioned.
Coming from Ireland, a country with a long history of colonisation and its aftermath, I see another side of this imagery. In Ireland, these Paintings were not seen as our cultural heritage in the same way they would have been by the English, Dutch, Italians or Spanish. They carried a message of unattainable superiority and lasting authority, culturally and politically.
This tension, for me is profoundly interesting and I have been exploring it in my work for many years. I have to stress that I do not look at the images in a sequential, analytical or academic way; I am not an Art historian. I can only describe my study of them as instinctive visually led. Looking at these images I have concluded that they frequently reflect the character of a culture more in their aesthetic than in their content. The values or desires of a society are often allowed only subliminal expression. It seems that for most of us, we can only examine ourselves obliquely. “
Mary A Waters