Diving into the magical realm of New England-native artist Maureen McCabe’s work, she and John Bell, the director of Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, discussed the crossovers between visual art and puppetry at the Ballard on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
McCabe is a widely celebrated collage artist who creates art revolving around themes and objects associated with magic — both occult magic and stage-magician illusionary magic. McCabe’s art is currently featured in an exhibition titled “Fate and Magic: The Art of Maureen McCabe” at the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut.
“The way [McCabe’s] art is constantly utilizing objects and movement is really parallel or in synchronization with what we do as puppeteers,” Bell said.
Together, McCabe and Bell examined photographs of several of McCabe’s key pieces over the years, dating back to the early 1970s up until the last year. McCabe’s background with the physical and visual arts began early in her life, coming from a family of Irish stone masons and delving into sculpture art in her college years.
“It’s kind of in my blood,” McCabe said.
Playing with object placement and shadows is something that both McCabe’s art and puppetry both have in common. One such series where these ideas are demonstrated are McCabe’s “Big Shot” works. She has six pieces made with similar pinball games as backdrops, with one from 2002 that contains an antique bullet as a focal point. McCabe explained that the size of the bullet determined that her piece needed to be much larger than originally planned. The piece weighs around 120 pounds, compromised of metal and other materials.
“I definitely think it is great for artists and students to come and be inspired, just to see what someone’s personal journey as an artist can be, and that they can be true to themselves in their art form,” said Matthew Marshall, curator of education for K-12 and community groups at the Benton Museum. “Maureen creates art that is authentic to her.”
McCabe is also very careful about placing objects together in pieces, especially those with spiritual associations. She explained that she makes sure objects are “not fighting each other” and always incorporates a means of protection into her pieces.
One example of a protective device is the use of “familiars” or protective animals, which McCabe said are always good to add to pieces. McCabe presented a piece that featured a real image of a woman that was an exotic dancer at the Moulin Rouge in the 1920s and 1930s in France, who was dressed tropically and was being protected by a flamingo that McCabe placed near her.
Dancers are a common theme in McCabe’s pieces. Beautiful pictures of ballerinas that McCabe recalled from her Bostonian childhood memories of visiting ballets, like Swan Lake, were recreated and animated by McCabe through an intense wiring process, allowing the ballerinas to become fully mobile.
“Knowing that her inspirations came from memories, like when she was a kid at the Ballet — I found that really nice,” said Tessa Beck Fey, a seventh-semester MFA puppet arts student.
McCabe was inspiring, humorous and unapologetically true to herself throughout the presentation. Her passion for art and unique sense of self stood out in the way she explained her artistic process and the stories behind each piece.
“She seems to be the type of old lady that I want to be when I’m older,” Fey said. “Her method of art making really does seem to be follow your heart, do what you are going to do for the audience of you.”
“Blood Stocking” was an incredibly unique piece McCabe presented that she created when she was very young, and marked when she “started to become what I have become,” explained by McCabe as “my own thinker.”
“Blood Stocking” features objects from an intense car accident that McCabe experienced while in art school. She attached her own bloody stocking to an embroidery ring she had been using for another project, as well as the hair from other passengers in the accident. She explained that this piece was very shocking at the time. “Blood Stocking” is just one example of McCabe’s eccentric and meaningful use of objects to produce unconventional art.
“[Art] gives meaning to my life and it makes my life make sense,” McCabe said.
“Looking at pieces I did when I was your age, now at 78 is a different experience,” McCabe said. She explained that even though her art does not move through time and space like puppets do, it can be experienced in different ways each time she or audiences look at her work.