makement
noun make·ment \ˈmeyk-mənt\
1: to make a statement, the act or process of expressing; i.e. the act of making and movement combined = Makement.
2: a) a manner of making, with active involvement, as in movement through the process of creating.
b) a creative philosophy, incorporating the exploration of emotions, meaning and memories into one's personal work.
critiquing in front of the 6' hexagon I created for during 2nd semester graduate work.
I discovered my personal process of making during my graduate studies at the Vermont College of Fine Arts from 2010—13. My process was hidden to me, and during these studies and research (and with the guidance of my adviors) I was able to call my process, Makement. Moving through my making process I one day accidentally typed the word "Makement," -- the accidental combination of the words Making and Movement.
Personal meaning in my work is important to me to start a project and stay motivated from beginning to end. I love research, process, and the documentation of my process. I love materials (beeswax and resin) and their meanings and origins, numbers, geometry (and the structure of geometry). I love 'calming the mental chaos' with organization. As an instructor once told me, "Discipline grants your freedom." Being organized grants me enormous freedom creatively to experiment, to make mistakes and to move through the creative process and stay committed no matter what.
— Mary Hanrahan
Design | Art
I am simply a maker.
When I started graduate school I struggled for too many years with whether I was a designer or an artist. After graduate school I no longer struggle with this concept. I am simply a maker. I am someone who loves typography, printmaking, photography, design and geometry, architecture, materials, process and meaning and personal journey. I love documentation and semiotics (the study of meaning-making). I love community and how making and design can support and shape postive and collaborative outcomes within a community.
Process is important in my personal journey.
Process was an intimidating concept for me many years ago. Now I love process and the journey in making. The journey of process gives you the freedom to experiment -- to create something new and unexpected within the security of a daily practice. You can judge your work along the way of the creative process, but in moving through the process (failing, trying and moving into a natural direction of eliminating what works and what does not work) you discover commitment and you discover your work. The work is part of your personal transformation -- and evolution, and the piece you create is the final statement of that process. I think Sol Lewitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) said it best in this statement of his personal process:
"The system is the work of art; the visual work of art is the proof of the System.
The visual aspect can't be understood without understanding the system.
It isn't what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance."
Current Project - 365 Teabags
356 Cups of Tea. I started this project in November of 2014 with two design colleagues, Cheryl Velk and Troy Patterson. It was meant to be a collaborate project to engage and inspire the three of us with our daily pratice of making and writing. Our collective medium used were teabags. We each drank tea, saved the bags and we would draw, letterpress, type and write on each bag. It was a daily dialogue between the three of us. The project is coming close to a year and we are getting ready to work on the book together, entitled 365 Cups of Tea: The collobrative process of making.
Publication - 132 Hexagons
132 Hexagons. This 98 page book documents the processs of my third semester graduate piece studying meaning, family origins, letting go, one-a-day photos, beeswax, geometry, poetry, boatmaking and repurposing a concept into something else.
(2016)