Mary Ann Peters

“I work from the premise that images are never neutral and that they sustain layered meaning from the inception of an idea to the completed piece. Historical narratives, architecture, science, personal heritage, politics and questions of perception have all played a part in my thinking over the years.  I look for seemingly disparate elements that can coalesce and redefine a topic.  I have traveled extensively, most frequently in non-Western cultures. Traveling has informed my understanding of the global roots of aesthetics. It consistently defines for me those social practices that provide outlines for cultural inquiry, including which ethical questions should be considered or supported. In the end I work to the afterimage of the viewer and the potential discourse that might ensue.  The kiss of death for any artist is the work that no one can remember.”

- Mary Ann Peters

Mary Ann Peters lives and works in Seattle, WA  She received an MFA from the University of Washington in 1978. She has received numerous awards including an Art Matters Foundaton Grant, New York that allowed her to travel to Paris and Mexico City to research the migration from the Middle East after World War II, a grant from The New Foundation, Seattle in 2014,  a MacDowell Fellowship in 2010, a Jentel residency in 2009, the Northwest Institute of Architecture & Urban Studies in Italy (NIAUSI) residency in 2003 and the Neddy Fellowship from the Behnke Foundation in 2000. Collections include Microsoft, Seattle Art Museum, 4Culture, Tacoma Art Museum, and others.  

Private Commission 2008
“Find the Syrian Boys” 1993
"and the edge becomes the center" 2009
“Painting the river red” 2012
"storyboard (1)" 2014
"storyboard (4)"
"storyboard (2)" 2015
"storyboard 6" 2017
canopy, 2019
way station, 2019
traveler, 2019
nightingale, 2019
"slipstream (by the light of the moon)" 2017
"this trembling turf (the waters)" 2017
"this trembling turf (the hollow)"2021
"this trembling turf (down deep)" 2020
“impossible monument (flotsam)” 2015
“impossible monument (flotsam)” 2015 detail
"impossible monument the world is a garden" 2018
"impossible monument (nothing but the memory" 2016
"impossible monument (nothing but the memory)" 2016 detail
"impossible monument (on my eyes and my head)" 2015
"impossible monument (on my eyes and my head)" 2015 detail
Mary Ann Peters Installation View Arthur Ross Gallery
"impossible monument (the ties that bind)" 2023
"storyboard (Mt. Lebanon)" 2023
"storyboard (the factory girls" 2023
"storyboard (double take)" 2023
"gilded" 2022
"an opening" 2022
"impossible monument the world is a garden" 2018
courtyard, 2019
way station, 2019
canopy, 2019
traveler, 2019
"in an instant; A Delicate Balance" 2007
"and the edge becomes the center" 2009
"then and now" 2012
"twilgiht" 2012
"the river" 2012
"down deep" 2012
"painting the river red" 2012
“mirage (from a history of ruin)” 2012
“impossible monument (flotsam)” 2015 detail
“impossible monument (flotsam)” 2015
"impossible monument" 2015
"storyboard (1)" 2014
"storyboard (2)" 2015
"history lesson" 2015
"no man's land" 2014
"storyboard 5" 2017
"impossible monument (tell tale)" 2017