Mary Burger (she/they)
I’m a writer and visual artist based in Oakland.
In my writing I work with forms of personal narrative to explore formations of the self. In my novella Sonny, I use the Trinity atomic bomb test as a backdrop and metaphor to portray a character’s fragmented consciousness and search for identity amidst a shattered family. I’ve recently completed the manuscript of a memoir, Pool of Stars, that engages with events in my early life, including my sister’s suicide attempt and my own diagnosis with cancer, and recounts my process of becoming a writer.
In my visual practice, I use abstract geometric and biomorphic patterns to find relationships between rhythm, repetition, and disorder. In paintings and mixed media works, I explore the vulnerability and regeneration of instability and change. My recent painting series Riparian Diluvian investigates forces of moving water, and its meaning for our physical and spiritual survival.