WORDS FROM MARA BAKER
My work is an extended meditation on the intersection of impermanence and regeneration. I combine found and newly made materials to create fragile, transient structures that echo the fragility of our material systems. Salvaged residues from the urban environment are transmuted and given new lives in my studio. A broken light grid, once used to diffuse and scatter light in an office complex, becomes a light-and-color machine. Weathered fishing ropes from a junkyard in Maine lend their history and resonance to my sculptural weavings. Wildflowers collected in empty lots throughout the city become vibrant natural dyes.
THOUGHTS ON THE LAB
My residency allowed me to create a body of work. Having the time and space to learn about the digital color-to-print process helped me bring to life a body of work that had been floating around in my brain for over a decade.