Born in Philadelphia to young parents who put a “blinking-eyes” mobile

over my crib and had Janis Joplin on the Hi-Fi, music and art have always

surrounded me, and I have always had a strong need to create. Until the

last few years, however, life had been a long and windy journey of many

struggles, including bad relationships, financial problems, and my own

battle with cancer at 26. I didn’t return to the need to create until my

early 30’s, and thought I would become an art teacher, graduating from

Arcadia University last spring. It was through this education, however,

that I found my own need to be a working artist, and my desire to

express my own struggles, as well as the struggles of other women,

through my work. My artistic interests began in architecture and painting,

but it was in Arcadia’s metals program where I found my challenge and

medium. Cold and smooth, metal can be curvaceous, organic, and

feminine, or sharp, sterile, and rough. I combine it with found objects to

create assemblage art that links the past to the present. Mixing these

materials, I strive to create work that compels people to look closer, that

changes their environment, and that confronts them with issues that are

complex and, at times, unsettling. My work tells the stories of women in

flux, women making changes and hard choices, whether they be about

marriage, having children, or battling illness. It also tells the stories of the

expectations society has and the judgments it makes on women for their

choices. For me, the stories are as malleable as the materials I work with,

soldered together and mixed with pieces of other stories, changing with

each day and each choice.

Maryann Worrell is an artist, designer and instructor who has recently set

up her workshop, “She Rocks Studio,” in Phoenixville, PA.. A recent BFA

recipient from Arcadia University, Maryann is currently exhibiting in

Philadelphia and teaching Metalsmithing at Arcadia University and The

Phoenix Village Art Center in Phoenixville.