Almonte & Area Artists Association

Mary Ivison

Mary Ivison is an explorer, researcher, and visual artist whose practice is grounded in an ongoing inquiry into the natural world and the cycles that sustain it. Blending observation with introspection, her work considers the subtle relationships between micro and macro systems, tracing connections between intimate, ephemeral moments and the vast structures that shape life on Earth. Through this process, she seeks to reveal the underlying patterns and synchronicities that bind living systems together.

Ivison received her BA in Studio Art from Brock University in 2024. Following her studies, she traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, expanding her practice through research, exhibition, and immersion in diverse ecological and cultural contexts. During this time, she completed an artist residency in Bali, Indonesia, where her work further evolved through close engagement with place and environment.

Mary Ivison’s paintings emerge through a process of trust, layering, and surrender. Working primarily with acrylic, she builds surfaces slowly, allowing forms, symbols, and atmospheres to reveal themselves rather than be predetermined. Each painting becomes a conversation between intuition and material—a record of listening, responding, and letting go.

Her work often exists in a liminal space between the internal and the expansive. Soft abstractions, gestural marks, and subtle figurative elements create environments that feel both intimate and boundless. Through repetition, erosion, and accumulation, the paintings hold traces of time, emotion, and transformation. Chalk and layered paint introduce fragility and impermanence, inviting the viewer closer to the surface.

In 2026, she returned to her hometown of Almonte, Ontario, where the landscapes of the Ottawa Valley have reoriented her practice. Drawing from the region’s rhythms and natural systems, her current work reflects a deepened sensitivity to place, material, and the interconnected forces that shape perception and experience.