Mary Farmilant

I finally allowed myself to devote all of my attention to making art after a 26-year career in nursing. My evolution as an artist has been as excruciating as watching a butterfly attempt to struggle out of a cocoon, especially since the “left brain” skills required in nursing are the antithesis of the “right brain” skills demanded by the creation of art. A lifelong organizer, I distressed at the impossible amount of work required to manage a household, a marriage, a family, a job, and a career in the arts. I finally realized that the overwhelming chaos was best left to sort itself out while I attended primarily to making pictures. As it turns out, letting the mess take care of itself was the key to letting my right brain express itself.

The images in Could you please… are a tribute to the ever changing chaos that I attempt to subdue. They describe the disorder that I see, but my family ignores. They describe the moments I observe as my family goes about their daily activities. The titles reflect a dialogue a busy mother of three has with her family as she struggles to keep up with the mess. They are quirky intimate portraits of an active family. I use photography and text to convert static scenes into dynamic ideas. They are a cross between Erma Bombeck and This American Life.

© Mary Farmilant