Mary Finlayson

Mary Finlayson paintings are a celebration of color, pattern and form which navigate themes of home, memory, and self. Through flattened interiors, she provides viewers an intimate glimpse into homes as memories–often a departure from reality. She invites us to consider what home means to us, both in our past and in our idealized form.

Finlayson’s work has a fresh and unique aesthetic through her use of gouache and vinyl emulsion. She combines her backgrounds in printmaking and painting to layer and contrast colors. The creative process includes immense attention to detail and meticulous planning around the composition. To add some intuitive balance, Finlayson does not plan her color palette ahead of time: “For me that’s the real fun part, getting to make those creative decisions on the fly.”

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ART MARKET SAN FRANCISCO 2023

20 - 23 April 2023

Art Market San Francisco, the Bay Area’s longest running art fair, returns to Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion in April 2023 with 85 top galleries from around the world and a program of Public Projects curated by AMP’s Artistic Director, Nato Thompson. Thompson comes to the fair with a robust curatorial background that includes a decade-long tenure overseeing projects at Creative Time. Art Market’s eleventh edition, now under the leadership of Fair Director Kelly Freeman, will be a platform for the vibrant, experimental, and inclusive strength that defines the Bay Area’s thriving Arts Community.

Mary Finlayson is a San Francisco based painter originally from Vancouver, BC. Finlayson blends her knowledge of painting and printmaking in her work, attributing her painting style to her background in silkscreen and lithography. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario, a Graduate Degree in Art Therapy from the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute as well an Arts Education Degree from the University of British Columbia. She completed artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center as well as OTIS College in LA and and recently completed a mural at the Facebook Artist in Residence program in San Francisco, CA. She has created work for Asana, Mohawk, Google, and Anthropologie.