Mary Jane Benson

South Portland - As a painter, MJ begins with the horizon, its ever steady line of delineation between the spaces of land, sky, sea. In between are layers and layers of light and color, sprung from her memory but unbound by realism. She uses a framework, a few rules around composition or color, but it’s the tension between what she expects and what the painting is telling her that dictates the flow and finish. She works, and waits, until the profound shifting between place and memory stills itself harmoniously on the canvas.

Her work represents explorations of the elements around bodies of sky and water, particularly in Maine, its essence and moods. The ocean, in league with the sky, has always fascinated her with its ability to soothe and terrify, its very solid, moving mass so easily shifted by the solid earth below it and the orbiting moon above. She uses multiple applications of paint to build a thick but transparent layering of dramatic color and movement.

MJ has been living and working in Maine since 2006, raising her family in South Portland. Her photography and paintings have been exhibited and collected internationally under the name MJ Benson.