MARIE CRAIG
MARIE CRAIG (SHE/HER) has worked as a photographer since before she owned a camera. After earning undergraduate degrees in Art and Biology from Anna Maria College and a Masters in Biology from Clark University. For several years she worked as a medical photographer and illustrator at UMass Medical School and Brandeis University. Now a fine art photographer, Marie is also co-founder and director of Fountain Street, a contemporary art gallery in Boston, Massachusetts.
What kind of process went into organizing “Natural Consequences”? What were some of your biggest considerations with this project?
I love working with cyanotype, one of the oldest photography techniques around. It’s very accessible, eco-friendly, easy to learn, and lends itself to infinite varieties of effects and expressions. Technical constraints led me to explore avenues that I otherwise might not have considered. Using silk for the cyanotypes started as a way to make larger images in spite of the dimensions of my tiny studio. Needing to find places that are bigger and sunnier enough to expose large fabrics during a New England winter led to creating a micro-residency for myself in the Arizona desert in January. This project needs a large space for exhibition, which led me to explore larger venues, including outdoor settings. Like the adage says, limitations are your friend!
How did your relationship with art and artistic expression begin?
Many artists will tell you that they’ve been making art for as long as they can remember, and that’s true for me as well. But it wasn’t until I got a job as a medical photographer that I began exploring the medium of photography, first for scientific documentation and publication, and later for artistic expression.
The biography on your website mentions that you photograph places and things that have a hidden, forgotten beauty within them. Can you explain why this approach appeals to you?
For me it’s about noticing the overlooked- seeing the beauty in the discarded, wondering about the history and story of this object or this place, maybe unlocking its secrets, in a way.
How has your education in Biology influenced your work?
Biology, and science in general, examine details and patterns in nature, which are often topics and themes in my work. Science is also focused on method and process, and I feel photography is very much process-driven. Cyanotype feels a bit like alchemy, though!
If you had to sum up a message/lesson behind your recent work in one sentence, what would it be?
There’s always more than one aspect to everything; considering situations from multiple viewpoints enables us to get a more nuanced and complete perspective and points the way to innovation.
What is “ART” to you?
Art is primal, it’s integral to who we are as a species. It’s a way that humans have communicated for millennia, a way to illuminate and share common stories and visceral knowledge.
What has been the most challenging part of your journey as an artist? And what has been the most rewarding?
Maybe the most challenging part of my journey is in giving artmaking the time and priority it deserves in my life. I’ve always treated artmaking as a kind of treat, something to do when the’ real work’ is done. (I’m still working on changing that mindset.). The most rewarding thing is the ability to share the ideas I have and the work I make. I feel really fortunate to have opportunities to do that, like the exhibit here at BAC, for which I am truly grateful.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring artist?
Just keep making. Everything else will follow.
What is one fun fact about you?
Blue is my favorite color- of course!
What is next for you? Where can people find you?
I am continuing to expand this project, and am planning to make many more large scale sheer cyanotypes for future installations such as this one at BAC. When I’m not in my studio in Natick, you can often find me at Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, where I am co-owner and director.
You can see more of my work at mariecraigart.com
Contact Marie at mariepicardcraig@gmail.com
