Shadow & Substance: Mayme Kratz

We are pleased to present Arizona artist Mayme Kratz's mixed-media exhibition, "Shadow and Substance," which will run June 13 - July 25. Kratz finds inspiration in Arizona's harsh desert climate, collecting found organic materials such as bone fragments, poppy pods, grasses, and flowers which she collects on long hikes in the surrounding area of her home and even on the train tracks behind her studio. She arranges this matter in circles, constellations, nests and other forms before suspending it in resin against a painted panel. Materiality is both heightened and diminished as the earthen matter transforms into a micro or macro ecosystem of its own. The process is time-consuming, toxic and difficult, but for her, this act of preservation is an ode to the cyclical pattern of nature. "With my art, I celebrate the endless cycles of change and rebirth," she explains. "I have great reverence for the natural world." 

With this new series of works, Kratz pushes herself both artistically and physically to create pieces that celebrate our earth by changing how we experience the flora and fauna that surround us every day. When Kratz reminds us to pay attention to what is often overlooked, she evokes feelings of beauty, memory and longing. Her work invites us to pause and celebrate nature, and to not take even the most prolific weed for granted. Beauty is truly in the eye of the observer. 

Self-educated and focused on her creative life from a young age, Kratz apprenticed with artist James Hubbell in her early twenties. She's had solo exhibitions at the Tucson Museum of Art and the Tacoma Museum of Glass, as well as group exhibitions at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Phoenix Art Museum, and Blue Star Art in San Antonio, Texas. She was a visiting artist at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, and was awarded a residency at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. Her work is in many private and public collections throughout the United States.