Compositions
Mary Fischer

Mary Fischer Artist Statement

The focus of my work is architecture. I look at buildings in the wild and in books. They get jumbled in my head and sorted out by my hands. The buildings started as boxes. Lids became roofs. Feet and chimneys appeared and things go on from there, changing from season to season.

There are no special techniques or attempts to disguise how pieces are put together. Surface treatments and forms change over time as different things capture my interest. The timelessness of indigenous, especially desert, architecture is an abiding influence, as is the use of concrete by contemporary architects.

The making of houses is largely intuitive, but in order to get the "right" proportions, I sometimes make paper models. It is easier and quicker to make a piece out of paper and then use the model as a pattern to cut pieces out of clay. Building with extruded pieces is like playing with Legos. The more pieces you have to play with, the more you can move things around until the right combination appears. Some works include multiple pieces that are not attached so that playing can continue, arranging and rearranging as fancy dictates.

Mary Fischer Artist Resume

Education:

1965 Bachelor of Arts Degree in History, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas.
1982 Begin ceramics classes at the Dougherty Art Center, Austin, Texas.
1987 Continuing ceramics classes at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, Texas.

Selected Recent Exhibits:

2007

Art and Architecture, Live Oak Art Center, Columbus, Texas

Iota, Dallas, Texas

2006

5th Annual Sul Ross State University Ceramic Invitational, Alpine, Texas

Day of the Dead Show, Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

Change of Venue, Poissant Gallery, Houston, Texas

Iota, Dallas, Texas

2005

State of Texas - Clay, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

The Works Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

30x5 Annual Ceramics Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa

On a Whim, Poissant Gallery, Houston, Texas

2004

Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas

5th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas

Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

2003

6x6 An Exhibit of Handformed Pottery, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas

Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas

Crafthouston 2003: National, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas

2002

Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas

Crafthouston 2002: Texas, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas.

2001

16th Annual Clay Symposium and Exhibit, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas

Origins in Clay II, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.

Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas

Made in Texas - Regional Clay: State of the Art, New Braunfels Museum of Art and Music, New Braunfels, Texas

2000 Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas