I've been involved in plants, planting and propagation, designing gardens, digging holes, drawing plants and fashioning garden structures of the rustic variety for a long time. So, for me, sticks, leaves, water and earth form a language without words.

 I could say that my work is about compost. I stew and cook, combine facets of my experience, wait awhile, and something happens. Like compost, sometimes I can recognize odd little bits that haven't broken down--a piece of corncob here, a leaf there. In my work, I don't always know immediately where an idea comes from, but like the compost I can see little bits of myself.

The work is biomorphic, variously influenced by automatic surrealism, Paul Klee, textiles, pattern and decoration, Krazy Kat, and whatever is going on at the moment. I like various media, finding that a change of medium is like opening the window.

 Recently, I've been giving names like "Elevator" or "Olfactory" to some of the pieces. The names are chosen for their sound rather than their meaning.

Marcia Cary