Page 50 - Winter 2022

s| ARTSPEAK
Artist Mary King draws from
memories, old photographs
By Wendy Cooper
Longtime Oconee County resident Mary King, who has two paintings exhibited in Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation’s SouthWorks Exhibition, usually starts with a photo she has taken or a precious memory.
The moment of quiet repose depicted in the painting “Lady in Waiting,” harks back to a time when she and her family were spending a lot of time in surgery waiting rooms and doctors’ offices.
At the time, she noticed a woman in a bright-colored dress, who brightened her spirit and whose face she couldn’t get out of her head.
“At times, I’m drawn to a particular image and don’t quite know why,” said King. “But I know that I need to paint it.”
Her painting “Cocktails” shows four women caught in conversation while having cocktails. Painted from a photograph, King was drawn to these women in their cocktail dresses gathered in a moment of lively chatter during the 1960s.
Growing up in a creative family, King remembers her mother constantly creating beauty in her house and her garden. King began painting professionally in college at California State University in Sacramento. She credits two teachers there, Jack Ogden and Oliver Jackson, who provided encouragement and guidance. After a few years, she moved back to Georgia and settled
in Oconee County.
The influence of some of
Oconee artist Mary King has two paintings exhibited in Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation’s SouthWorks Exhibition through Feb. 18.
King’s favorite painters—such
as Paula Rego, Alice Neel,
Edward Hopper, Lucian Freud and Wayne Thiebaud—can be seen in her work.
“I find great inspiration from contemporary artists I find on Instagram, as well,” she added. “It’s amazing how many people are out there creating something every day. And without that forum, I would likely never have seen them.
King’s images are both figurative and narrative, leaving enough mystery to allow the viewer to imagine his or her own story.
“I would rather the viewers decide for themselves what the imagery might mean, if anything, than to try to explain it, because then it is locked there with the meaning that I give it,” she explained. “While I have painted it for me, sharing it shouldn’t dictate its meaning to someone else.”
King proclaimed, “I’ve always been stuck on that Francis Bacon quote: ‘If you can talk about it, why paint it?’”
King’s paintings, “Lady in Waiting” and “Cocktails,” will be part of 150 works of art at OCAF’s national juried SouthWorks Exhibition through Feb. 18.
“Lady in Waiting,” features a woman that King was mesmerized by while at a doctor’s office. Far right, “Cocktails” depicts four women in cocktail dresses laughing at a party during the 1960s.
sWendy Cooper is the executive director of the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation. PAGE 48 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2022
Courtesy Mary King
Courtesy Mary King