Raised in New York City, Mary Larsen was exposed to art before she could hardly doodle. The taming of her brushstroke began with classical training in painting and drawing at the infamous High School of Music and Art. Leaving the big bad city behind she went to New England where she studied printmaking and film making at Hampshire College. The call of the wild west brought her to San Francisco where she began painting in earnest and unlearned her previous training. She had several one-person shows before returning to her roots in New York City where she continued painting and exhibiting. Using New York as a base, she traveled throughout Europe and Asia with her paints, sketchbooks, and very little money. The years spent in Italy and India had a profound impact on her persona and her work. Later she followed her heart to San Juan, PR where she learned how to drive and curse in Spanish. After a few shows and a half she once again fell prey to the moving bug and ended up in Miami where she currently lives. Mary has exhibited in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Juan, and Miami. Her work is in corporate and individual collections in New York, Miami, and San Juan.

"I paint to nourish my soul. Creating art is as vital to me as food is to my body. My work is profound and distinctly original. The paintings are neither purely abstract nor figurative, yet fall somewhere in between the two realms. They defy categorization and cannot be ism’d. The shifting images are a narrative of dreams not quite recalled, yet felt and described through layers of washes, wax, and impasto. The intensity of color and light works to create a psychological tension where chance, memories, and desire coalesce. The strength of my work lies in its ability to provoke the viewer to penetrate and interact within and beyond the limits of the painting and emerge with their own personal revelation. The convergence of the participant mind and soul of each viewer continuously energizes with insight and meaning the vibrant planes, lines, and shadows I create."