Mary Kenny

My interests lie in the experimental process of constructing narrative through an accumulation of printed layers, These layers are built up with pieces from my collection of mostly 1950’s and 1960’s grade school science textbooks, parenting handbooks, pamphlets and other commercially printed material of a time past.  Most of my works imagery includes children; I take them from their original environment and make them characters in my experiments. From this collection, I also create drawings, which I digitally manipulate.  They become a starting point for the creation of my print matrixes.  My driving intent is to create narratives familiar and benign images which I often place in strange or compromising situations that challenge the viewer to reexamine their common perceptions of human behavior.

My work is informed by the process and physicality of printing and art making.  Much of the work is done at the printing press. When I print, I try different visual arrangements, modify my matrixes, and create new composition.  I use commercially standard printing colors, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, which allow me to explore color combinations in much of my work.  Each print runs through the press several times, which informs my process and choices; by printing multi-layering plates, I discover new ways to achieve a balance of concept and composition.  These printed layers expand my visual dialogue in ways that allow the print content and language to dictate the finished piece.  My work combines various printmaking processes including collagraph, polyester plate lithography and hand stamping to create one-of-a-kind works on paper.