Mare McClellan

Inspired by an ongoing collaborative project of spinning and weaving with fiber collected from local wild plants, McClellan recently built a simple loom and began weaving with wire, a favored material in her wrapped nests and root wall hangings. Layering the woven wire panels brings attention to pleasing surface texture and creates a compelling sense of depth. Pieces of woody vines and twigs are a grounding element in the airy imaginations of shelter and structure.

Abstracted imagery suggesting light streaming down from above and light traveling underground in the root systems of plants continues a thematic thread of previous painting series. Paper applied to the canvas and layers of marks and brushwork build subtle surface feel and hint at mystical meaning.

McClellan’s work grows from a lifelong love of meditative processes like wrapping, weaving, painting and mark making. Gardening and botanizing keep her in contact with the muses.

Connection to Bucks County

“waves of light breathing and sighing awash in the glow quietly abiding with that slant and some grace feeling rooted in place” Drawn to Bucks County by the river, the landscape, and the committed community support for the arts.

2023 Airy Imaginings, Grounded Musings; recent paintings and sculptures Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ

2022 Group Show Gallery Artists, Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ

2021 Light Effects; Tracy Everly, Mare McClellan, Christine Lafuente, Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ

2019 Persephone Digs the Light; paintings and sculpture, Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ Sculpture 2019, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA - jurors' award

Phillips Mill Annual Juried Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2018 Hunterdon Art Museum, Members Exhibition, Clinton, NJ

Sculpture 2018, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA - jurors' award

Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ

2017 Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ

Silvermine Arts Center, Art of the Northeast Curated Exhibition, New Canaan, CT fiber, fabric, fashion - Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Arts New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA

Sculpture 2017, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA - award for mixed media Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2016 Hunterdon Art Museum, 2016 Juried Members Exhibition, Clinton, NJ fiber, fabric, fashion - Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Arts New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA

Sculpture 2016, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope

Quiet Life Gallery, Lambertville, NJ Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2015 Hunterdon Art Museum, 2015 Juried Members Exhibition, Clinton, NJ Quiet Life Gallery, Lambertville, NJ

Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA - Phillips Mill Art Committee Award in honor of Evelyn Faherty

Sculpture 2015, New Hope Arts Center Juried Exhibition, PA

2014 Diane Birdsall Gallery, Old Lyme, CT

DRSB Invitational Exhibition, Prallsville Mill, Stockton, NJ

Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2013 Ink-Wire-Paper+Clay, Diane Birdsall Gallery, Old Lyme, CT

Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2011-2012 The Value of Water, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York, NY, inclusion in the Digital Documentation Installation

2000 – 2012 Hrefna Jonsdottir Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, exclusive representation

2006 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA - Award for Contemporary Work

2005 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

2004 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA • Award in memory of Ellen Pearson Sutton

2002 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

Trenton City Museum, Ellarslie Invitational 2002, Trenton, NJ

2001 Artsbridge Annual Juried Show, Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ - James A. Michener Art Museum Purchase Prize Award

2000 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

Coryell Gallery Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Lambertville, NJ

1999 Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA

Hunterdon Museum of Art, Hunterdon County Cultural Commission Biennial Art Exhibition, Clinton, NJ

Bianco Gallery Juried Exhibition, Buckingham, PA

1987 La Rue des Reves, JAMP window installation, New York, NY,

Gracie Mansion Gallery, Small Works Group Exhibition, New York, NY Now Gallery, Small Works Juried Exhibition, New York, NY

1986 New Museum, Museum Store, Juried Ornament Show, New York, NY 1985 Five and Dime Gallery, JAMP exhibit, New York, NY

Design Experience
1985 – 1991 Artist collaboration with Jade Dressler called JAMP

• designed and constructed limited edition sculptural jewelry
• inspired by organic energy patterns, like those found in rivers, fields, rocks, winds, clouds, cells, and souls
• sold in galleries and shops around the world including Henri Bendel, Martha International, NYC; Janis, Chicago; Joyce Boutique, Hong Kong
• featured in publications including Vogue, Elle, WWD, Essence, Pronto
• accessorized couture runway shows of NYC designers Bill Blass and Mary McFadden

Education
1983 BA Fine Art, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ