Local artist Mary Chiaramonte was raised the old fashioned way in Harmony, WV, a remote town of no more than 100 residents. Growing up there in the early 1980s, Mary and her siblings had no TV. Her family lived off of, and worked on, the land. The children were encouraged to entertain themselves with objects in nature, thereby turning twigs into toys. As a result, Mary was left with the workings of her imagination and her observations of the world around her, which she translated into paintings and drawings.

For as long as she can remember, Mary has been interested in knowing about other people and the lives they lead. "There are stories unfolding around me all the time," she explains, "whether my own stories or those of people I come across. I feel compelled to document those stories. If I can do that, I feel like I have done something worthwhile; if I cannot, then perhaps it just another moment lost to time."

Mary’s paintings are personal. They reflect both the emotions of the persons she paints and the emotions she brings to the story. Mary’s purpose in painting is to make the connection between the viewer’s life experiences and those that she has sought to capture. The stories she tells are purposely vague. Her cropped figures and dark palette create an air of mystery that invites interpretation. At first, her paintings often seem foreboding. Take time with them, and you will begin to see the more positive messages that she brings to them: hope, strength, affirmation.

In 2001, Mary became fascinated with an old photograph of artist Camille Claudel. She committed herself to recreating that image every day for a year. She did not stop at 365 but continued to a thousand, using more than 50 different media. Currently Mary is working on a collaborative project with Jessie Mann, both the subject and the daughter of the celebrated photographer Sally Mann. She is producing an ongoing series of portraits of Jessie created from photographs she takes of her subject.

Mary has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions on the east coast, and her work has caught the attention of many local and national publications including New Art International. In the Spring of 2007, she participated in Nevin Kelly Gallery’s successful "Women’s Work" exhibition, a group showing of 5 young women artists working in the Washington, DC area. That summer, the gallery featured a solo exhibition of Mary’s work entitled "Murmur," a series of 11 works showing the struggle to "overcome life’s difficulties and limitations using the image of individual attempts to escape from a box."

Mary resides in New Market, VA. In addition to Nevin Kelly Gallery, she is represented by White Canvas Gallery in Richmond, VA.

Jessie Mann VII (2006)	19 x 11 mixed media