An Exhibition of Contemporary Icons Re-Imaging Mary

by Rosemary Luckett

Exploring the image of Mary and Jesus that Rosemary Luckett grew up with led her to a discovery of richly diverse images of Mary, other archetypal women, and the feminine face of God. Like Marian icons from previous centuries, these cut paper collages reflect figures and faces of women living at the time the pictures were made. By joining old images with the new, such as ancient Byzantine pictures of Christ with contemporary women and children from all over the world, the artist provides the viewer with multiple entry points into the pictures. Traditional symbols of the bird, vessels, and angels are combined with the precisely cut photographic figures and small bits of lace or cloth. Each individual element in the collage retains its own identity, history and implications, at once contributory to and independent of the collage as a whole, thereby enriching the layered surface of the art work with multiple layers of meaning.

She Shall Be Called Blessed 12"x21"x5" paper, lace, polychrome wood

On the one hand, these collages call to mind the scriptural stories in which God interacts with Mary and also the images of sacred motherhood made by artists throughout western history. Yet these contemporary figures of women remind us that women of today are also called to be bearers of Christ, to carry on the mission of Mary and Jesus in our own time.

By framing these paper collages in three dimensional "houses" or "shrines," the artist extends a two-dimensional collage into three-dimensions. The shrines are references to medieval altar panels, Hispanic niche boxes or domestic folk cabinets. They become vessels for the paper images, in direct reference to Mary, who is vessel to the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

Rosemary Luckett has exhibited in many galleries and art centers throughout the country, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.. She is a native of Idaho, but has made her home in Virginia with her husband and three children.

WORKS ON DISPLAY
	< Madonna of the Sheaves 18"x 27"x 5" paper, polychrome wood Mary Visits Elizabeth > 20"x 29"x 4" paper, polychrome wood
	< Light Bearer 22"x 36"x 8" paper, polychrome wood Mother of Us All > 7"x 54"x 10" paper, polychrome wood
	< Spirit Woman 18"x 71 3/4"x 9 5/8" paper, lace, polychrome wood Then and Now> 28"x 24"x 5 3/4" paper, polychrome wood
	< Suffering and Transformation 14"x 61"x 4" paper, polychrome wood, broom Mary Takes Her Son from the Temple > 18"x 26"x 3 1/2" paper, polychrome wood
	< She Hears the Cries of the World 14"x 21"x 3 1/2" paper, polychrome wood, metal Gift Giver > 12"x 25"x 8" paper, polychrome wood
	< Magnificat 17 1/2"x 20 1/2"x 3" paper, ribbon, polychrome wood Madonna with Beaded Hair > 14 1/2"x 22 1/2"x 2" paper, ribbon, polychrome wood
	< Lamentation > 24"x 33"x 8" paper, polychrome wood
	< Seat of Wisdom 15 1/2"x 23"x 6 1/2" paper, polychrome wood Renew the Face of the Earth > 12"x 19"x 3" paper, polychrome wood, plastic
	< Mary at Cana 23 1/4"x 24"x 3 1/2" paper, polychrome wood She Said "Yes," > 20 1/2" x16"x 5" paper, polychrome wood, tiles

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