Mary Van Cline: Seattle, Washington
Mary Van Cline earned a degree in design and architecture from North Texas University in 1976. She was introduced to glass at the Penland School of Crafts in 1979, and went on to study at Massachusetts College of Art where she earned her MFA in 1982. Van Cline's inventive working process often combines hot and cold glass techniques, cast elements, and photosensitized glass into one piece.
"I've always been drawn to images, and the narratives they suggest. It is the justification for my use of glass. I present theater in my work. There is usually a story, a scene, a stage and lighting. I build theater sets for my photos. I want viewers to look at the photographs and not get caught up in the technique or material.
These places in my work are where you truly begin to think about mortality and time. There is a power in the photographic image that sets up a memory or vision in the mind. To me, they relate to Japanese butoh theater with the minimalist stage, the angst in the presence of the figure and the stark setting."