Self Portrait with Ice Cream and Candy

MSP Terminal 1, Conference Center Gallery
November 2022 - November 2023

Mary Jane Mansfield is an Icelandic-American artist, mother, and public art manager living and working in the Twin Cities. Her world is a mix of whimsical, lighthearted, and sometimes serious exploration that reflects on family, life, love, desire, and dreams.

Her visual compositions are created through character studies that eventually find themselves in conversation with one another. The images are generally created without a preconceived idea of what she will draw. She is often as surprised at what shows up on the page as you might be.

Equally intrigued by psychics and physics, her allegorical work captures a sense of the space between intangible fantastical worlds and concrete realities. The transfer of energy between worlds beyond the known universe and the illusion of space between us are concepts that have an influence on her work.

She recently completed a year-long residency at Second Shift Studios in Saint Paul. Her creative work has been recognized with awards from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council; Next Step Fund, Forecast Public Art; Making it Public, MN State Art Board; Artist Initiative Grant, and an NEA Open Studio Fellowship from Franconia Sculpture Park.