MARY ZERAN

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    • Abstract Paintings
    • Abstract Landscape Paintings
    • Square Works on Paper
    • Vertical Works on Paper
    • Ceramics
  • EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
    • Exhibitions
    • Corporate and Residential Installations
  • Press
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  • ABOUT
  • CV
  • Contact
  • HOME
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Abstract Paintings
    • Abstract Landscape Paintings
    • Square Works on Paper
    • Vertical Works on Paper
    • Ceramics
  • EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
    • Exhibitions
    • Corporate and Residential Installations
  • Press
  • Publications
  • ABOUT
  • CV
  • Contact
Picture
New Giant, 2022, acrylic, Dura Lar on cradled Panel, 12x9.5x12 inches 

Exhibitions

2024 TBD, Gilded Pear Gallery, Cedar Rapids, IA
​2023 Fly Over Focus, Queen City Clay, Norwood, OH, August 25th - October 13th 
2023 By Design, Group Exhibition, Gilded Pear Gallery, Cedar Rapids, IA, May 30-August 5, 2023

Statement

Picture
Telescopes and Accordians, 2023, stoneware, 12x9x12 inches
​I create places of happiness. Landscapes full of delicious color, long expanses, odd quirky shapes, and patterns suggesting the unknown. 

Slick, transparent  polyester film and acrylic paint are my materials of choice. Painting on an uneven work table allows the paint to slip and shift, creating  slurries of bold color. These slurries create lines and wave patterns.  By layering multiple pieces and cutting along lines, I'm able to identify shapes that become  elements in my collage. All these pieces come together to create a story.

I view my paintings and ceramics as sculpture. Both take their form from the inherent quality of the materials. While the paintings are flat reliefs, the ceramics take advantage of clay's malleability to be  bulbous, and 3D.

​Life can be heartbreaking. My spontaneous way of working mimics the full spectrum of human experiences. My intention is to reshape those encounters into spaces of absurdity and exuberance. These aren't  linear moments, but an abstracted experience you can’t quite define.
Picture
photo credit: Lauren Tucci

BIO

Mary Zeran (b. 1964, Iowa City, IA) creates places of happiness. Abstract landscapes full of delicious color, long expanses, odd quirky shapes, and patterns suggesting the unknown.

The artist holds a B.F.A. and M.F.A in art from University of Iowa. Zeran’s collage are shown internationally, with exhibitions at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA, and Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  

Her work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA, U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, IA, Harvard Business College, Boston, MA, and United Fire Group, Los Angeles, CA. Artist Residencies, and public commissions include Oregon College of Arts and Crafts Residency, and a 2% for the Arts Purchase Prize from the Visual Arts Commission in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her work is included in the book "Chunghi Choo and Her Students", published by Arnoldsche, Stuttgart, Germany, The New Art Examiner, and Artweek, Seattle, WA.

​Zeran currently lives and works in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Mary Zeran
539 Forest Dr. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
(319)893-0042
​maryzeran@maryzeran.com

 2010-2023 © Mary Zeran all rights reserved/ all photos by Mary Zeran unless noted ​

Mary Zeran is dedicated to making her website accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities. I am currently in the process of making sure the website, http://www.maryzeran.com, is compliant with best practices and standards as defined by Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and Level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Following these guidelines will help make the web more user-friendly for all people.