Art Opening: Mardy Sears

I Will Miss You More Than I Know – drawings, prints, and artist books by Mardy Sears  Exhibition – October 18 – November 10, 2024  

Opening Reception – Friday, October 18, 7 – 9 

Loyola Academy – McGrath Family Performing Arts Center 1100 Laramie Avenue,  Wilmette IL  

Note – Access to the exhibition during school hours must be scheduled through Pat Patterson at ppatterson@loy.org  

Influenced by the environment and daily news of climate change, my work combines  animal imagery and abstract text to express both personal and global grief.  

Grief is the thread that binds this exhibition together, and the art is a physical  manifestation of mourning – it’s my process for letting go. Though I have lost both of  my parents since 2021, grief and mourning are not always about losing someone who  is close to you. It’s also about the loss of a simpler life; without war, pandemic, loss of  species, or climate change. I worry about what will become of our planet. It’s no longer  about how we as individuals live, it’s much greater than that and I don’t think our  trajectory can change without major changes at the highest levels. It’s no longer about  whether we recycle or travel by train – it’s about our global economy and the western  culture that creates profound waste. As long as we purchase plastic, companies will  continue to manufacture it. We must make sacrifices and demand change if we are to  have a better life because the one we’re in is not sustainable. 

Thank you to the Whiteley Center in Friday Harbor for their continued support. 

For additional photos or to speak with the artist please contact: Mardy Sears, cell –  (224)381-6703 or email – mardysears@gmail.com 

Mardy Sears – Artist Bio 

Mardy Sears is an Evanston artist and a member of the Evanston Made art community.  She is a printmaker, ceramicist, and artist book maker. After graduating with a Masters  in Fine Arts from The Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College Chicago in  2006, she began working as a Conservation Technician with a focus on paper at The  Art Institute of Chicago.  

Mardy’s visual language includes images of animals, primarily birds and sea creatures.  Her animals tell stories of humanity and connect our everyday lives to the environment  we live in. She incorporates text and poetry into her image making, that is often  presented in book format. Her visual texture is influenced by the objects she works  with at her job at the Art Institute of Chicago. Worn and aged surfaces such as joined  sheets of paper and early book structures, which may be sewn, mended, and stained,  are evident in her objects.  

At the Art Institute of Chicago, she spends her days framing works on paper for  exhibitions and loans – which may play a part in her preference for making objects. Her  ceramics are utilitarian and her prints and drawings are made to be handled. Sketches  can be pulled from envelopes, books perused, and boxes opened to see what they  contain.