Watermark Finalist Proposal:

My sculpture often includes lighting, text, and a combination of bold forms with intricate detail. My contract proposal for the Spokane Library atrium follows these signature principles. The atrium’s varied light conditions continually change under its massive skylights, and are a prime consideration in the design. The library location near Spokane Falls and the architecture of the building are considered parameters.

The local river geology is fascinating. The basalt itself is an intriguing story, created by lava and carved by floods. The architects designed abstract faceted boulders to form structures within the building that reference the falls. The boulders are half of the geologic story. My proposal introduces the other half, the story of the water, in the artwork titled Watermark. These faceted raindrops integrate my bronze text technique. The cursive script creates lace like forms to frame lexan panels of color. The integration of the cursive text provides for an opportunity to add layers of meaning. My proposal uses bits of literature that you find in the library itself, proverbs about raindrops from around the world. 

The first in a series of Artists in Conversation – featuring @meggan.joy and myself @marycoss_studio as we discuss discuss humanity, feminism, art history and more!

Filmed at J. Rinehart Gallery in conjunction with the exhibition, Conversations. 
On view November 7 – December 19, 2020 and at www.jrinehartgallery.com

Mary Coss creates new Sculpture for Bainbridge Island High School

New design work for Bainbridge Island! I looked at the wave in the form of a cross section and saw how similar it is to an opening fern frond.   The images follow the golden ratio which describes predictable patterns found in nature. My research led me to propose three monumental scaled cross sections. The first image is a fern unfurling, next waves build up and crash. Water jet cut metal forms the three shapes. Cut words create detail and texture, and deepen meaning. They tell a story of growth and resilience. The three cross-sections sit on a cement wedge, a place to gather. The modern wedge form is cast in concrete and grounds the art in an aesthetic that ties in to the architecture. Stay tuned for more updates!

My Artist Support Residency will support professional master sound recordings on my newest project. Ghost Timbre is a sound experience that will accompany my Public Art sculpture Ghost Log at Dickman Mill Park on Commencement Bay in Tacoma. The residency includes a public exhibit and a podcast. 

Ghost Timbre mixes historical sounds heard at Dickman Mill and its natural surroundings with interviews that speak to its history. These include stories from the Dickman family (previously recorded by Storycorp); interviews of Puyallup elders, documentation of a cedar gathering, tribal blessings and song; sound from a working vintage mill; worker interviews; logs splashing in water; sounds of the park’s wetland and native birds singing.  The soundtrack is accessed through a web link at the waterfront park and permanently hosted on the Metro Parks Tacoma website.

Alma Mater Tacoma has offered audio recording consultation, a public event, and a public exhibit in Milk Gallery.

A partnership with Eastside Community Center (Metro Parks) lends in kind support. Lonnie Perrin, sound engineer at The Center’s Billy Ray Shirley III Recording Studio, will help me record. Thank you partners for supporting the project!

Ghost Timbre is the audio component that supports the public artwork Ghost Log, a monumental sized public sculpture by artist Mary Coss at Dickman Mill Park. Ghost Log will be sited on a restored antique artifact, the head saw from the original Dickman Lumber Mill on Tacoma’s Ruston Way waterfront. The sound component is an imperative piece of storytelling. It fleshes out the relationship of the people in the community to the local lumber industry.

Ghost Log

The sculpture itself is a 40’ long corten steel form with a laser cut skin resembling cedar bark.  An 8’ wheel gear at the park end of the log makes witness to the enormous scale and contributes to a deeper understanding of the machinery and the history. The mechanical structural log transforms to the organic as it twists and turns, first to form a basket weave midway and then culminates in cedar boughs at the water’s edge. The basket form honors the tribal lands of the area. The cedar basket motif appears again in the signage. A small bronze sculpture in the shape of a cedar basket holds the interpretive engraved signage for the artwork.

The Ghost Log creates a network of reflection on the water at night. Lit within, the shadows reflect onto the water surface. The log is embedded with words to support the historical connection to the mill, the tribe, cedar, and the logging industry. The sound aids this ethereal visual quality and flushes out the stories and sounds of the park and its history.

Ghost Timbre

The sound component mixes historical sounds that would have been heard at the mill and its natural surroundings with interviews that speak to its history. This includes: stories from the Dickman family (previously recorded by Storycorp); interviews of Puyallup elders, documentation of a cedar gathering, tribal blessings and song; sound from a working vintage mill; worker interviews; logs splashing in water; sounds of the park’s wetland and native birds singing.  The soundtrack is accessed at the waterfront park and permanently hosted on the Metro Parks Tacoma website. On site, a QR code and link to the virtual sound is posted on interpretive signage. The link provides access to the audio on your phone at the pier, or later at home. 

Thrilled to be included with such visionaries as Holly Ballard Martz, Howard Barlow, Katie Miller, Clair Cowey, Justin Beckman and Tessa Hulls! fingers crossed

Thank you 4Culture for supporting my new project: Witness

My grandma lived a hard life and worked as a milliner. Her beautiful hats were shared amongst her six sisters who all had their own collections. Over the years, the women in my family have passed down their hats and I have come to have a large collection of beautiful, wacky, sophisticated and esoteric hats. I am using the hat as an icon of women to tell their stories.

There’s a lot of talk currently referring to mid century as “the good old days”.  These harsh and difficult times were good for a privileged few. Witness shares the stories of the other women. I have been recording women in conversation both here and in Ireland. The stories speak to the female condition, those who have passed along mixed with stories of elders and younger women coming of age. I have found certain themes  through collecting the stories, with similarities through time.

I’m excited to see where this goes. It’s a work in progress.

This evolving installation is part of a trilogy of shows that have transformed at each location.  Silent Salinity started at Museum of Northwest Art as part of the Surge exhibit. The gallery with three installations focused on a haunting ghost meadow, a wire salt encrusted journal turned fishing net and a ruin akin to an archaeological dig.  The show evolved at 950 Gallery in Tacoma as Silent Salinity: after the dig.  The ruins were catalogued and presented as artifacts. New work added includes a video installation of an eerie desert island of salt projected onto as if underwater. In Groundswell Coss brings this eeriness into this stories conclusion as she constructs a monumental wave that transforms the initial installation encompassing the gallery with misty fabric and projection.

I will be in residence at METHOD Gallery Monday through Friday March 1-20 as I transform the space from a stark dystopian landscape of salt laden grass into a churning, ethereal swell reflecting our current social climate.