mary robinson

In her South Carolina studio, Mary Robinson layers colors and shapes on repurposed fabric, old artwork and handmade paper.

The imagery in her mixed-media works reflects the cycles and patterns in nature.

“I create new objects and compositions from used material as practices both of hope and understanding life in this strange world,” said Robinson.

Artist: The Tennessee native was born and grew up in Chattanooga. Robinson graduated with a BFA in studio art from the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she focused on painting, drawing and photography.

She then earned an MA in art history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was fortunate to work with Master Printer Andy Rubin at Tandem Press and fell in love with printmaking.

After earning an MFA in printmaking from Indiana University-Bloomington, she moved to Columbia, SC, and worked at the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina-Columbia from 2002 to 2024, before retiring from her position as professor and head of the printmaking program.

Studio: Robinson’s home-based studio is in a detached garage, nestled among the trees, overlooking her family’s garden-turned-jungle in Columbia, SC. She has drawers full of scraps of paper that she cuts, rearranges and uses in new works.

In the beginning: As a child and teenager, Robinson spent a lot of time drawing and painting. Her love of nature was instilled by her parents and fostered by playing in the woods on Signal Mountain.

Art & materials: Printmaking (primarily etchings, collagraphs, woodcuts and monotypes), painting, dyeing and collage on paper and repurposed fabric ($600 to $5,000).

Themes: Consciousness, interconnection, life rhythm.

Must-have tools: Large etching press; repurposed fabric and works on paper; ink, gouache, acrylic, glue and plants to make paper.

Inspirations:

Artists: Emily Carr, Charles Burchfield and Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Architecture: Earthships in Piedras, NM.
Books: “Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind.”
Music: Dove Ellis, Playing for Change, Idris Ackamoor and Scary Pockets.
And a shout-out to birds!

Fun commission: Permanent ceiling installation in the children’s section of the Richland Library’s Wheatley Branch in Columbia, SC. Robinson created the installation with images of South Carolina wildlife made by students in a linocut class she taught at the library.

Unusual project: In 2018, along with four other artists, Robinson was invited to travel to Norway and create work “aimed to capture, communicate and conserve interconnections between nature and culture in living seeds.”

She made a series of small hand-bound books with linocut printed images of seed repetition and variation, first exhibited in Tromso, Norway, then permanently installed in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Special project: Robinson’s work “New Growth” is on the cover of the CD “A Forest Unfolding: A Collaborative Cantata Inspired by Trees.” The CD was released in May by New Focus recordings, an artist-led collective label.

Recent honors:

Residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO. 2025.
Included in the exhibit, “At This Moment: Portraits of South Carolina Artists,” curated by Mark Sloan, photographed by Atlanta’s Jerry Siegel and exhibited at Greenville County Museum of Art. 2025.
Residency at Breck Create in Breckenridge, CO. 2023.

What’s next: Exhibition at Spalding Nix Fine Art in Atlanta Sept. 18 through Nov. 13.

Where to buy: