In the quiet seclusion of my studio I have become familiar with aspects of myself that I can not reach in any other way. Perhaps the dedication to my work has become in some sense a ritual of psychic renewal for me. Joseph Campbell, a great thinker of our time, has stated that as one ages one realizes the interference daily societal demands put upon our lives – demands which diffuse our sense of self. Thus an individual must find a quiet place, or a “bliss-station”, in which there are no outside distractions. Within this space, one can rediscover the radiance that comes from the “Thou Feeling” for life. My time spent in the studio is this sort of experience for me.
Despite some anti-naturalistic tendencies, my work doesn’t entirely reject external reality. The emotional elements in my pieces are drawn from my own personal experiences. I paint with spontaneity, with images unfolding as the work progresses. Figures and objects frequently emerge, only to be hidden under subsequent layers of paint as I attempt to catch that elusive moment that will communicate my inner vision. I create a static stage in which images seem to be frozen in time. Figures are caught in momentary reverie suggesting a moment when the Muse bridges the gap between reality and the transcendental.
Mary Kline-Misol is committed to painting the real and brings attention to the act of painting as a process of close observation. Her paintings are the cusp where the real becomes imaginary and the imaginary becomes real. Kline-Misol translates the real by seeing into or beyond what she is looking at. Birds, trees, people, light, and flowers become archetypes within a flow of time, pointing past the real to the ideal. – David Wells, Guest Curator, Dubuque Museum of Art