Artist Statement

I believe it is the job of an artist to reflect their times.  We are at a unique time in the history of our planet when for perhaps the first time a sentient life form is aware of the possibility that they are responsible for a mass extinction event.  In fact, this will be our planet’s sixth mass extinction event in the past four billion years of the history of life on earth.  Based on research and observation, my work is infused with the poetry of human emotion while simultaneously investigating the link between our cultural and biological evolution.  This epic story of life and death of our shared biosphere consumes all my work, whether it is a solution based environmental piece or illuminating a scientific discovery.

I am fascinated by biology and natural forms and how, in nature, form follows function and function follows form.  I am trained classically as a figurative sculptor.  However, my work is cross disciplinary and includes environmental restoration, film, performance, photography, theatre and music.  I am especially fascinated by the microscopic realm, and how the shape of things in nature dictates their function.  I delight in making the invisible visible.  My goal is to captivate my viewers about the role of the microscopic world in our shared biosphere. I often use innovative technologies to create my work for example, fabricating outsized sculptures from scientific data like bioinformatics. Each piece is the result of extensive research; rooted in one common principal which is the quest for primary source material often gleaned from direct collaboration with scientists.  As result of this practice, my work acts as a conduit between scientific discovery and the public. I consider all my work to be theatrical and performative whether, it is a live performance film or static sculpture.

My intention with all my work is to influence and foster a global bioethic in which we care for one another and act as stewards for our shared biosphere. And put forth the tenants of ‘Geotherapy’ to the public as “nature-based solutions” or homeopathic remedies to a damaged biosphere. I firmly believe our future as a flourishing biosphere depends on the embracing of nature…culturally as well as biologically and that the two are forever linked.

Mara G. Haseltine

2024