Heaven and Earth 1: 2009 Heaven and Earth 2: 2010 Heaven and Earth 3: 2011 Heaven and Earth 4: 2012 Heaven and Earth 5: 2013 Heaven and Earth 6: 2014 Google+ Facebook Pinterest Printable Maps (pdf format): Coming Soon Sponsored by: Center on Contemporary Art Carkeek Park Advisory Council Seattle Parks and Recreation Associated Recreational Council Supported by: Seattle Office of Arts & Culture 4CULTURE United Reprographics contact Thendara Kida-Gee to help support this year's show and artists.		Mary Coss Seattle, WA http://www.marycoss.com/ DNA planta genética I am interested in the intersection of nature and the human made, nature and the sociopolitical. This examination of the world around us has manifested in multiple streams of work. Yet, just as nature seems to hold things on a parallel course, that overlap and integrate depending on time and context, so too do several bodies of work cross and overlap to become one. Artwork about ancestors, genetic modification, and Art in the Environment all strive to tell a story of life, bound by nature and the social context. The vocabulary of my practice is based in stories, nature, and science. I researched my family history and came to find that some of the very things I am compelled by are things common to how my ancestors lived their lives. I am interested in the scientific aspects of this "inheritance" of thought and action. What is passed on through blood and bones outside of the physical? In life as in art, As Above, So Below. Installing art within the natural world brings another dimension to the conversation. As the human hand affects the environment around us, how can we stop to consider our earth and our relationship to it in a new way and to celebrate the sacred and to preserve this delicate balance? I am working in the space between the real and the imagined; abstractions from our lives are reworked using metaphor, nostalgia, humor, and ultimately, reflection. Visual interpretations use the unexpected, navigating scale or unusual material that reflects and builds on the intention of the work, asking the metaphorical questions. I approach my work by looking at things through a different lens and by wedding dissimilar materials and forms. In this way, a new conversation is initiated. This questioning and reexamination are at the crux of my practice. Bio: Mary Coss received her Master of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and has accumulated an extensive exhibition record, focusing on alternative venues and community and public art projects. Coss has received residencies and grants from institutions including the Candyland Arts Center in Stockholm, the James and Janie Washington Foundation, 4Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Juan Island Museum and Sculpture Park, and Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture. Her public work is in numerous collections including King County and Seattle Housing Authorities, McNeil Island Corrections Center, Carlsbad Public Library and Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. Coss’s curatorial experience includes exhibitions at the Columbia City Guest Gallery, North Seattle Community College, and METHOD Gallery, where she is a founding member. Mary is an adjunct faculty at Antioch University Seattle and teaches Art and Culture Workshops in underserved populations in southeast Seattle.