((Left) Mary Moore in her studio. (Right) Lion and Lamb by Mary Moore)
Among Pablo Picasso’s memorable quotes is this one: “Everything you can imagine is real.” A vivid imagination inspires Mary Moore to create ceramic sculpture that transports the viewer to mythical worlds. It’s a place where human figures have animal heads, wizards or jesters sport medieval headgear, and sprites in flowing gowns whisper to us. Her whimsical sculpture is on display at Red Chair Gallery.
Moore is inspired by Aesop’s Fables, fairy and folk tales and Native American images. One piece shows two human figures sitting together but their bodies are topped with the heads of a lion and a lamb, evoking the theme of the Peaceable Kingdom. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the corpulent twins from Alice in Wonderland, pose on a box, ready to ask “How do you do?” The gowned “whisperer” figures are based on Native American beliefs that “everyone has an internal voice that leads, guides and heals that person.” Moore explains.
Signature touches to the figures include articulated arms that can change position and a distinctive black and white checkerboard pattern that Moore uses on clothing, boots, and pedestals. She calls her latest series of figures From the Stars. Looking at the stars at night makes her think that humans are made of stardust, too. “My forms are based on us being out there in the universe,” she explains.
There were seven children in Moore’s family and they moved all over Oregon and Idaho as their banker father climbed the corporate ladder. As a child, she loved to draw animals but didn’t have a lot of art materials. In high school, she enrolled in the only art class, which changed her life. “Making art was liberating and fun,” she remembers. “Nothing was wrong or right in this class and I was hooked.” She blended her love of art and the need to find a profession by attaining a masters in art therapy. “Art became a way of seeing the unspoken struggles and understanding emotional conflicts of others.” After years of working with clients, she realized “it was time to let go and move forward on my own journey.”
Moore chose clay as her medium and taught herself all the skills and techniques that have made her successful. After she forms the clay into components for her figures, she bisque fires them. She uses a copper wash to highlight certain areas. Then she paints them, applies an under glaze to make them shiny and fires them again. Although she has been a clay artist for many years, she admits that “a lot of my big pieces are trial and error.”
Moore and her husband moved from Portland to Bend six years ago when they retired. She also exhibits at the Sisters Gallery & Frame Shop and Artists’ Gallery Sunriver. She has shown her work at the Guardino Gallery in Portland. She welcomes custom projects, especially if they involve dogs.