Mary Brestovansky
Mary Brestovansky is an illustrator and metalworker from Lapeer, Michigan. She received her BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit in 2023, with a major in illustration and a minor in crafts. She works as a multimedia artist, preferring to work primarily in paint, ink, and pencil and bringing work to a digital finish. Mary’s greatest inspirations come from her childhood love for epic fantasy and gothic music, reflected in her tendency for dark fantasy themes and metal props.
Artist Statement
Ranging between illustration and metal, my work reflects my escapist nature and interest in fictional worlds crafted down to the finest details. My creative practice employs the illusive nature of painting to visualize worlds and stories that can only exist in fiction, and grants them physical form through my use of metalcraft. Uniting these practices allows the creation of a portal between the real and imaginary.
In my work as a publishing illustrator, I seek to create enticing worlds of drama and magic where the mind can wander. Every detail has an opportunity to tell a story of its own. My greatest influences are the work of fantasy writers like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, artists like John Howe, Alan Lee, and Frank Frazetta as well as folktales and myth from all backgrounds. They have inspired me to write and illustrate comics and scenes that explore the balance between light against dark, the dramatic against the mundane. Light cannot be seen as light without the existence of darkness, nor drama without the experiences of everyday. Every detail can have some meaning to it, whether large or small. These thoughts lead me to create semi-realistic paintings of fantastical creatures and environments, often with grim undertones and subtle details. In turn, I craft metal props of things that could be found in these worlds I paint. Often wanting something more in life, my illustrations combined with my crafts are my way of exploring and sharing another universe, realized for a moment of time.
Exhibitions
July 2023
Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, Ann Arbor, MI
November 2022
Illustrators of the University, Center Gallery, Detroit, MI
May 2022, 2023
CCS Student Exhibition, A. Alfred Taubman Center, Detroit, MI
2018, 2017
St. Clair County 4-H Fair, Goodells, MI
2015
Lapeer County High School Student Art Show, Gallery 194, Lapeer, MI
Awards and Honors
2018
Grand Champion, Crafts, St. Clair County 4-H Fair, Goodells, MI
2018
Reserve Champion, Creative Writing, St. Clair County 4-H Fair, Goodells, MI
2017
Best of Class, Pastels, St. Clair County 4-H Fair, Goodells, MI