Mary Catherine Bassett
Biography |
Mary Catherine is a Virginia native. She grew up in the Shenandoah Valley nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains on a 200 acre cattle farm. Much of who she is and how she operates stems from living in the rural south.
She moved to Chicago in 2003 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The pace of the city and overwhelming population sparked many levels of curiosity leading to research in physics, geometry, metaphysics, and ethics. After receiving her BFA with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies, Mary Catherine returned to Virginia and opened a Gallery and Invitational Residency program called Spectrum Studios. This program made a huge impact on the local culture, and can still be felt today.
She attended the School for American Crafts at the Rochester institute of Technology, receiving her MFA in Glass Sculpture in 2012. Her work is primarily sculpturally based, and is highly materially experimental harnessing alchemical theory and chemistry. Since receiving her Masters, she has taught and shown both nationally and internationally. She is currently living and working as a tenure-track Art Faculty at Laney College in Oakland CA.
Artist Statement |
In my work, I employ production methods derived from material based processes. I am interested in construction, formation, deformation and what elements of space, light and shadow can be harnessed as these elements are unveiled. I intentionally exploit characteristics of material in my work allowing for a symbiotic relationship between the chosen materials and myself as the maker.