Mary A O'Brien
FLOOD PLAIN WALL CARSON VALLEY, NEVADA
J-HOOK BRAIDED LOG Reno, Nevada
SUBMERGED (FOREST), BAY CLAY OYSTER REEF San Rafael, California
THICKET Los Altos, California
THICKET Los Altos, California
LINE OF DEFENSE Venice, Louisiana
INVASIVE COLLABORATION Charlotte, North Carolina
INVASIVE COLLABORATION Charlotte, North Carolina
I am a sculptor and an installation artist. My work addresses the societal impacts of contemporary issues—hunger, unemployment, war, environmental degradation and restoration. During the emerging years of my career, I created object-oriented narrative installations. As a mid-career artist, I have gained a philosophical pragmatism to my art, and now incorporate these narratives into installations with a remedial trajectory. These installations are site-responsive environmental interactions that occur in compromised environments, directly addressing environmental and community issues. They contribute, in a remedial way, to the restoration of lands and waters. The work itself, becomes an act of activism.