Mara Safransky studied fine art at Rhode Island School of Design. Strongly influenced by the work of the Abstract Expressionists, she uses color, shape and movement to examine issues of perception and experience, encouraging a meditative approach that offers a respite from our habitual way of interfacing with the world.
It’s Safransky’s goal to liberate the viewer from their critical, overly-analytic sensibilities and instead engage them in a subjective and freely associative experience.
“Each piece is a window into the realm of an inner landscape,” says Safransky. “Rather than imposing rigid meaning on each painting, my interest lies in extending the creation of that meaning to the viewer. I want the viewer to be moved in whatever way they are moved, carried in whatever direction they are carried. For me there is no one answer to the question, ‘What is this painting about?’ It’s different for everyone. Therein lies the beauty of art, abstract art in particular.”
Mara works intuitively, inviting ready insight, but pushing away rational thought and interference. For her, painting is an opportunity to move beyond the constraints of the rigid thinking mind and into a state where spontaneity and reflex dictate the course to follow. She applies the paint in layers watching the forms emerge then she might obscure an area or scrape the surface away. It is a process whereby new worlds are formed and the unpredictable is revealed.
Mara Safransky works from her Los Angeles-based studio. She is a member of Gallery 825 and Women Painters West. Her work is held in private collections and she has exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and New Zealand.
* None of the artworks may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Artist
