Mary Scott: Shredded Painting

Shredded Painting, unwoven canvas, by Mary Elizabeth Scott

Mary Scott is a Canadian artist who was born in  Calgary, Alberta in 1948.  

Mary Scott holds a BFA (1978) from University of Calagary and an MFA (1980) from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.  She was assistant head to Banff visual arts from 1982 - 1984, and then began teaching drawing and painting at the Alberta College of Art and Design, retiring in 2012. She refused to accept the paintbrush as the only way, and in the 70's and 80's, used a syringe to apply paint to alternative surfaces.  Around the same time, she started to incorporate text into her work and words by Gertrude Stein and Luce Iragary are featured in some pieces.  Scott's work is in several major public collections including the National Gallery of Canada.  

In you more me than you Mary, safety pins and acrylic, no date, by Mary Scott
collection of Owens art gallery, New Brunswick

The impact of feminism in the 70's and 80's encouraged women artists to look at traditional women's craft and reinterpret it into pieces that were gallery worthy, full of content and skill.

Imago (viii) "translatable" *is That Which Denies*,
by Mary Scott, embroidery and unwoven silk, 1988

Mary Scott's feminist work is based on reading and there are layers of meaning in her work.  Her labour intensive techniques include shredding cloth or removing the weave of various fabrics, embroidery, gold leaf, wrapping, crochet, and painting/writing with a syringe.  Mary Scott's fabric and text-based paintings heralded the emergence of post modernism and feminism in Canadian art.  

number 8 in the series:  Canadian Artists who Work with Textiles