by Christina Xan
The first quarter of 2025 will present patrons at Motor Supply Co. Bistro the opportunity to embark on a journey with artist Mary Ann Haven that follows the ebbs and flows of her own tumultuous experiences throughout 2024.
With a BFA in Design from the University of North Texas, Haven has spent nearly 40 years as a working artist in the Midlands—first self-employed and focusing on “commissioned art, murals and tromp l'eoil custom layered finishes, including plasters, metal leaf gilding and hand painted signage” and, for the last decade, homing in on canvases and commissions.
Haven has participated in a multitude of shows and juried competitions, including Open Studios, the SC Watermedia Society Digital Show, and Artfields. The 11 pieces in her show with Jasper Galleries—which opens this Friday, January 17th from 6:00pm—8:00pm at Motor Supply in the Vista—depict a journey of hope, loss, and letting go.
Haven has penned the following retrospective on the collection, which will be up for view and available for purchase until the end of March.
“There is for me a sense of before and after in this body of work. When Jasper gave me the opportunity to have a show in a location that would allow me to share my bigger paintings, I was excited. If nothing else, the goal of January 2025 would give me a whole year of something to work toward. I didn't know at the time how much I would need that to keep moving forward.
The two 36" x 36" puzzle series pieces, “Adaptable” and “New Day New View” are a lighter, playful exploration of yin and yang, peace vs. chaos and the joy felt when attempting to balance a composition using form, value, and color. The three 20" x 20" pieces, “Reflections I & II” and “South by Southwest” also play with the same elements with collage added in. These five pieces represent the ‘before’ stage.
The emotional landscape began to shift in April when I lost a close friend to cancer. Sometimes you can point to certain people and know that they have changed the direction of your life. He was one of those individuals for me. A month later I received a call notifying me that my very independent eldest sibling was in dire straits. I can acknowledge now that my parents raised three offspring that live lives independent of each other. Being the youngest, this was the first time I had been called into action to help one of them. I experienced a real mixmaster of emotions, which included surrendering to what one cannot control (other people's choices) and a new level of concern/anxiety over what it can mean when things go wrong while aging alone. I found that my normal desire to paint nonrepresentational work came to a full stop. To my surprise, an idea I had had for decades resurfaced as a way to go forward.
At a dinner party in 1996 I was introduced to a fellow local artist Carolita Cantrell. While chatting about my marriage ending, she told me that I needed "shelter without walls". Her example of this was a partner who honored an artist's need to be an artist...and all that meant. In the last decade I have spent time at the coast where I regularly view fisherman's shelters at the end of piers which are basically…shelter without walls. These two things came together as a new series with a moody result. The first piece is “No Chumming for Sharks.” That label was actually a sign on an existing shelter before it was destroyed when washed away in a hurricane. Beyond the literal meaning, to me it meant ‘don't ask for trouble.’ The second painting, “Storm Front,” is a dreamscape that was painted on top of composite silver leaf. It depicts the hope moonlight brings in the darkness.
I included a self-portrait that was painted when I was feeling emotionally raw. It's figuratively a medical prescription full of symbols, some more meaningful than others. “Open The Book” is a piece about life continuing to bring us new lessons. It helps if we stay open and are willing to learn. The last two finished were the 30” x 40” pieces in deep teal and blues. “Blue Wave with Spilled Milk” was named in mid-November. You can make that name what you wish. The last, “Forest Dreams” was painted in response to Hurricane Helene. It brought the possibility that I might have to put aside the dream I've had for years of living in the mountains.
Overall, painting has become a mirror of my emotional response to my environment. By the way, the name of the self-portrait is “The Year of Letting Go.” 2024 was definitely that for me.”