Mary Esther Munoz is a California-based artist inspired by flower meanings, fungi, rituals, shrines, horror movies, and all things Halloween. Her style is intimate, dark and whimsical. Mary’s favorite materials are acrylic, ink and gouache. Her current series explores the human body’s ultimate submission to nature, presenting the body in a shrine-like manner adorned with symbolic fungi and foliage. Open to interpretation, each piece can be viewed as nature assembling or reclaiming the subject, both flourishing and decaying.
The cockroaches found in select pieces are a metaphor for resilience, persistence, and repetition (because you know they always come back!) Their stubbornly strong exoskeletons convey frustrations of reoccurring obstacles, and what growth might come from that.
(Fun bit: Victoria the Waitress is Mary’s alter ego from her waitressing and bartending days).
Ledge the wonder dog and studio assistant!
