In 2019, after 15 years in commercial photography, a move to New Zealand prompted Mary Lynn Burke to find new meaning with personal work. She resided in remote locations, creating art in solitude and otherworldly terrain. During this isolation in majestic landscapes, she explored new mediums. Mary Lynn’s work combines expressive layering with movement and chance, creating emotive compositions. Her work navigates the space between vulnerability and belonging while absorbing both the tension and stillness of passing time. She values the contrast of precise and uninhibited mark-making to reflect her journey with nature and feelings. Unconcerned with theme or figuration and shaped largely by chance, she presents color and form with raw openness. Her works draw inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, recalling the lyricism of Manoucher Yektai and Helen Frankenthaler and the zen-like works of Morris Louis. Mary Lynn works outdoors whenever possible with oil, acrylic, cyanotype, and photography - to intuitively externalize a sensory and spiritual relationship with our natural world. Mary Lynn lives and works in Lexington, Massachusetts, and has exhibited in New Zealand and Boston. In my studio, the process of painting has evolved in its purpose. I paint to engage with my heart and find connections within memories and desires. Often, I see tender moments awaken and walks in rainforests emerge. Other times, I feel concerns and wishes morphing into pathways toward resolve. Painting for me, is a process of visiting another dimension of reality, where there are so many glorious sources of light, revealing dreams I wouldn’t otherwise have the pleasure to meet. I’m drawn to make, to experiment, to give a physical representation of my inner dialogue, appreciation for life, discoveries, and desires. My art hovers and forms within a state of wonder, as if playing in a lucid dream. It feels like I am made whole as a result of having methods to release energy, impulse, and awareness. Often windows, bridges, organic shapes, and forts emerge, and my awareness shifts. The more risk and spontaneity in my process, the more growth and bonding the experience produces. It is why I cannot judge my art; the primordial feeling cannot be explained or measured.