Marie Craig
Around the Curve
Marie Craig’s series Around the Curve features “portraits” of upholstered chairs and couches that, in their damage and decay, have been banished from the showroom of the home and disposed on the side of the road. Craig captures these objects as she finds them, more often than not in a dilapidated state. The portraits are both close-ups of the details of worn and torn fabric, and full views that include the surrounding environment. Upholstered chairs are a symbol of domestic comfort, which makes them seem entirely out of place and harshly exposed when they are outside of the home. By removing the chair from the interior, Craig also eliminates any element of voyeurism that accompanies the desire to gaze into other’s domestic environments.
The chair is one of the objects in a home that holds the most cultural and familial significance, and the artist has asked us to think about how we use the word chair to signify importance, such as “Chair of a Department” or “Chair of the Board.” If you think about your own home, there are likely chairs that are designated for particular family members. Chairs can be deemed masculine, or feminine, and are imbued with a personality. Through her works, Marie Craig gives found objects a new life and character—whether she captures them as a couple perched on the side of the road (Second), watching traffic zip by (Main), or titles them with phrases like Hint of Opulence or Flirtatious Curve—a wry nod to their better days.
- By Jessica Roscio, Curator at DanforthART and contributor to Aspect Initiatve.
My camera records evidence of the juncture between the past and the present. My intent is to call to mind an awareness of the transience of life and our place in the world.
Statement
Why do I take pictures of busted windows and creepy abandoned places and objects? Because of the vigor and life these things once had. Because somebody spent hours every day for years looking out that window, sitting in that chair. Because time is unstoppable, memory is fleeting, and life goes on. But I am here now, witness to the march of progress. In my earlier work as a medical photographer, I learned to appreciate the incredible detail and beauty of things unseen. That sensibility is still with me; those unnoticed places continue to attract me. My camera records evidence of the juncture between the past and the present. My intent is to call to mind an awareness of the transience of life and our place in the world. - Marie Craig
Marie Craig
BIO
Marie Craig has worked as a photographer since before she owned a camera. Undergraduate education in Art and Biology and a Master’s degree in Neurobiology from Clark University led to work as a medical photographer and illustrator for over a decade. After leaving the academic environment, Marie focused her creative energies on freelance projects in medical photography, illustration, and graphic design, as well as in operating a small general photography business. In 2011, she co-founded Fountain Street Fine Art, a contemporary art gallery in Framingham, MA. As its co-director, she produces, promotes, and curates exhibits which change monthly.
Marie photographs places and things that have a hidden, forgotten beauty within them. Her work has received a number of awards, and has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the Boston area, where she lives with her husband, many children and menagerie.
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