Artist Statement

In 2021, I had the unique experience of being a resident artist for a month at the Kingsbrae International Artist in Residence program in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. While there, the seeds of my current series celebrating the adventures of a child free to explore began to germinate.

As a mid-career painter and printmaker, I infuse memories using recurring icons of trees, birds and flowers based on their essence of allegory and identity. My narrative compositions are intimate because of the many layers of detail and the fusion of patterns and forms.

My studio practice as a mixed media artist blends acrylic paint, gold leaf, handmade paper collages and texture paste, to create contemporary compositions. My illustrative and surfaced designed concepts incorporate a visual story that has evolved into a window for my viewers to see their own childhoods. This interconnection was a pleasant surprise and I find myself asking others about their stories to build upon my initial concept.

Biography

Denise Cormier Mahoney’s illustrative and surfaced designed compositions are infused with memories and stories told from the point of view of a child free to explore.
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking and painting from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia and her Master of Art Education from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Denise exhibited widely in Seattle for twenty years and five of her art images are permanent Public Installations on Washington Avenue’s Outdoor Gallery in Bremerton, and the permanent collection at McMennamins Elks Temple Hotel in Tacoma, Washington. Her Florida public art installations feature Blue Heron & Becoming What was Discovered as Illuminated Art Boxes on the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs.

Her collaborative relationships include the National Association of Women Artists in New York City, the NAWA Florida chapter, the ArtXchange in St. Petersburg, Florida, Artslink New Brunswick, L’Association des Artists Acadiens Professionels du NB & CARFAC.