“Vanishing Light #14,” 2019, resin and snakeweed on panel, 48×48″
“Vanishing Light #6,” 2018, resin, grass, and feathers on panel, 30×30″
“Vanishing Light #15,” 2019, resin and snakeweed on panel, 48×48″
“Vanishing Light #5,” 2017, resin and grass on panel, 30×30″
I live in the center of a city, in the middle of a desert surrounded on all sides by the enormity of the horizon. The environment is harsh. Everything is exposed. Nothing is hidden. I walk and forage in the dusty, hot landscape, collecting seeds, grasses, weeds, bones, and other odd bits that most might overlook. My walks reveal fragile ecosystems, strange beauty — insights in detritus. What I see in these intimate viewings finds its way into my dreams. Dreams lead to poems. Poems lead me to what I create. I hope to bring a focus, a new way of seeing, a new life to the objects I find. My collected specimens — ephemera preserved, protected — celebrate the endless cycles of change and rebirth in nature.
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Mayme Kratz was born in San Diego County, California, and has lived in Phoenix since 1986. Self-educated and focused on her creative life from a young age, she apprenticed with artist James Hubbell in her early twenties. She’s had solo exhibitions at the Tucson Museum of Art and the Tacoma Museum of Glass, as well as group exhibitions at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Phoenix Art Museum, and Blue Star Art in San Antonio, Texas. She was a visiting artist at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, and was awarded a residency at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. Her work is in many private and public collections throughout the United States. She is represented by and exhibits regularly at Lisa Sette Gallery (Arizona), Dolby Chadwick Gallery (California), and Littlejohn Contemporary (New York City). Kratz received a Contemporary Forum mid-career award and exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum in 2011. In March of 2013, Gnosis Ltd. produced a documentary titled Stand Still, focusing on Kratz and her creative process.