(Giddings, Mari. Satori I.)
In 1986 she became chief assistant to master printer Robert A. Devoe at the Phoenix Art Press. Shortly after, Mari opened her own studio in the Verde Valley in northern Arizona where she happily painted landscapes for several years. In 1991 Mari moved back to Phoenix to become the Art Director of Phoenix Art Press.
(Giddings, Mari. Satori II.)
Giddings states, "My art helps me to see beyond culturally learned forms, breaking down perceptions that are so deeply ingrained, so taken for granted that they seem real, the only possible way to see. For me, successful art destroys the obvious connections by which we construct our realities and makes new connections, then it destroys those connections, too, realizing infinite alternatives. Art is never a finished product, but a moving, living, immediate process which begins again with every painting ... and with every viewing."
(Giddings, Mari. Arrangement II. )
In 1995 Mari co-founded the Planet Art Group in Phoenix, Arizona. Mari works in a variety of styles, from naturalistic landscapes to cubist abstraction, yet she sees no contradiction in these approaches.
Giddings says, "Neither strict representation nor abstraction is simply imitations of reality, but tools for the construction and reflection of an artist’s individual experience. As infants, we learn to objectify our individual perceptions through relating with others. In the same way, art allows us to conceptualize subjective experience by turning it into an object that can be shared. In this sense, all art, abstract and representational, is simultaneously self-portraiture and a mob scene, intimate and public."
(Giddings, Mari. Well Being I.)
Her artwork is extremely elegant and reflects the color tones of the Sonoran desert. Mari Giddings is a wonderful contemporary artist and her work is much appreciated here!
Enjoy :)