Mary Curran has been creating and teaching art for over forty years. Her work draws on a deep reverence for the natural world and explores how humans make sense of their surroundings. By blending observation with imagination, she examines the ways myth and memory shape our understanding of life.

Curran’s Mixed Mythology series explores cultural stories about animals from around the globe. These vivid paintings invite viewers into their narrative space. At their core, the works challenge us to consider the impossibility of myth while recognizing that such stories often arise from real events and natural phenomena. Curran extends these ideas into sgraffito-designed bowls, layering multiple narratives within a single form. By combining different meanings for the same animal, she reminds us that symbols are never fixed. They shift across time, culture, and personal experience.

In the DeSoto Family Vault, Curran’s Ghost Birds and Chiaroscuro Ground series expand her exploration of transience and memory, inviting reflection on life’s fragility and the fleeting beauty of light. Through her work, Curran “invites viewers to see nature not just as it is, but as something imbued with consciousness, mystery, and otherworldly significance.”