Name: Mary Fortuna

City of Residence: Traverse City, MI

Featured Artwork: Protection Flag

Exhibition: the Ekphrastic, CTAC - Traverse City Rotunda

On View: now through October 26, 2024

Tell us about the creative process for the featured piece in our exhibition: 
Protection Flag was made by piecing linen and cotton fabrics, then hand stitching the individual elements and images using applique and embroidery.

Who or what inspires your creativity? 
My parents were both accomplished artists, though they worked in other fields. I have been making art of all kinds for as long as I can remember; making art and dolls and puppets and objects of all kinds was my primary activity as a kid. I draw on folklore, mythology, storytelling, the natural world, religious and spiritual iconography from all over the world, filtered through my own imagination, observation and experience..

Where can visitors learn more about your work? www.maryfortuna.com; @mary.fortuna on Instagram; Higher Art Gallery (note: my website is currently being updated; the most recent work has not been uploaded)

Artist Bio: 

Mary Fortuna moved to Traverse City from the Detroit Area in 2016. She currently works primarily in soft sculpture, collage, and textiles. She has exhibited her work all over Michigan, nationally and internationally. She has conducted hands-on workshops and classes for children and adults at the Detroit Institute of Arts Education Department, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, The Scarab Club, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Anton Art Center, Flatlanders Sculpture Center, Popp’s Packing and elsewhere. She has recently exhibited her work at Glen Arbor Arts Center, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Higher Art Gallery, Oakland University Art Gallery and Wayne State University Art Gallery, and has artwork in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts and Wayne State University. She is semi-retired from her day job and spends most of her time in the studio and in her garden.

LIGHTNING ROUND!

• When I work, I listen to: Streaming movies and cooking shows
• For example: Wes Anderson films, Great British Bake Off
• I studied: Drawing, printmaking, sculpture, painting
• "One" art-related thing I can't live without: My enormous stash of fabric and beads
• Three words that best describe me: Impulsive, acerbic, open-minded
• Three words that best describe my art: multi-layered, stream-of-consciousness, esoteric

Thank you to Mary for jumping in and joining us for our first Artist Spotlight Q&A in Traverse City!