ARTIST STATEMENT "I strive to create expressions that balance the random, wild beauty of nature with a more structured composition and deliberate color palette. Each fresh canvas or panel is an invitation to examine the relationships between our natural world and the organized, sometimes chaotic society that we live in. Through my work, I find a way to visually and emotionally make sense of what I experience in my surroundings and see in my imagination. "My work is done in layers. Most pieces will receive many applications of mediums that bring depth, texture, and complexity. Each layer builds upon the last; ensuring the finished product is rich with effects pulled through from each step of the process. This process is essential to me because as I paint, each element and layer is part of a larger story I am telling. I don’t often work without having some narrative in my mind that informs the choices that I make. As I add, subtract, and resolve, the story plays out and I build a history that speaks of where I have been." ~Mary Koziol BIOGRAPHY Mary Koziol is a contemporary mixed-media artist living in Lincoln, Nebraska. She grew up in a rural setting where the diverse animal and plant life around her made a profound and lasting impression - and continues to inform her work today. Painting abstractly, and relying on both intuition and careful composition, she often tells stories of her time growing up on the edge of the Nebraska Sandhills. She holds a degree in Interior Design and practiced professionally before deciding to commit fully to her artistic career. Through her time as an interior designer, Mary developed an appreciation and professional knowledge of how color, texture, and composition have an impact on people in their surroundings. This background has strongly influenced her artistic style. Her objective through art is to connect with the viewer by giving them an experience that offers an emotional response to the painting from a distance, but also intrigue and delight as they take in close-up details. Combining a more structured composition with organic forms and softer gestural marks gives Mary’s work an element of surprise as she tells her visual stories. Mary is a self-taught artist, proudly taking on that label and continuing to grow at every opportunity.