artist's inspiration

“My art is often about a woman's feelings toward her body.”

Mary Ellen Scherl’s paradigm of art as a cathartic process originated from working on a series of life-size sculptures of an obese, nearly 400 lb. woman. The artist spent several years creating art that celebrated her inner and outer beauty while challenging standard conventions of beauty. As time passed, however the model’s joints deteriorated and her health problems mounted. Yet, being part of the art had the effect of catalyzing her decision to change her life which resulted in an enormous weight loss that dramatically improved her health.

Ms. Scherl was invited to exhibit these magnificent female nudes in several art shows from California to Florida, benefiting cancer foundations. After attending these exhibitions and observing the power of the non-idealized human form, and after witnessing the remarkable emotional and physical transformation of her model, Ms. Scherl, whose mother and sister-in-law are both breast cancer survivors, began to wonder about the emotional and physical effects of breast cancer. “What if my art could make a difference to breast cancer survivors?”

“What if I could create a sculpture to help fight breast cancer in a more direct and engaging way?”

"Through my sculpting I have witnessed how art can help heal the kinds of wounds that affect the heart and the mind."

"The sheer numbers of the breasts that will fill , walls will reflect what feels like an epidemic – one in seven woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, 270,000 Americans, and over 1,000,000 cases each year. Those who have the courage to participate in , are sending a wake-up call to the rest of the world. We need to find a cure."
-Mary Ellen Scherl, artist

bio

After a seventeen year career as an award winning art director at two prominent advertising agencies, Leo Burnet Company in Chicago and Young and Rubicam, Inc. in New York, Mary Ellen Scherl began to pursue an inborn passion for sculpture. In a short while she has received numerous acclaims for her current work as a fine artist and sculptor.

In the summer of 2002, Ms. Scherl had her first solo show at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, NY. The show was entitled “Monumental Woman.” Accompanying a life-size bronze of a morbidly obese woman was a series of watercolors of the same model and a photo documentary explaining the casting of her piece.

In the spring of 2003 two of Ms. Scherl’s busts were selected for a show entitled “Portraits: Public and Private,” an exhibition sponsored by the National Sculpture Society in New York.

In the summer of 2003 her work was on display in a show curated by the International Sculpture Center. The venue for the exhibition was the Grounds for Sculpture Museum in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Also in 2003 one of her monumental work entitled “The Ladder” was permanently installed in the Medical Plaza at Vanderbilt University. The Newington-Cropsey Foundation, an organization supporting emerging artists, funded the project.

In December 2003, Ms. Scherl was granted gallery space at Art/Basel/Miami in the Miami Design District. Dacra of Miami and Kramer Design Group of Manhattan sponsored the show.

In July 2004, Ms Scherl exhibited her work at Ceres Gallery, a women’s co-operative gallery in New York City.

In spring 2005 her work appeared at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in a show celebrating “the breast” entitled “Get It Off Your Chest.” September, same year, she was invited to exhibit at “Nude Nite,” an art show in Orlando, Florida, benefiting The American Cancer Society. These special events have significantly affected the scope and purpose of her new work. Her sensitivity to the female figure, especially as it relates to body image issues and her recent discovery of the extraordinary healing power of her art has led her on a new and bold mission: a major installation designed to directly help fight breast cancer as a life threatening disease.

In April, 2006 “The Contortionist,” a monumental bronze, was unveiled at the Westchester County Courthouse Plaza in White Plains, New York and this June “50DD,” red granite, was placed in Tibbit’s Park, also in White Plains. Both installations are part of the Sculptors Guild’s ongoing effort to provide free exhibitions for the public.

In a relatively short time Ms. Scherl has been recognized and supported by the sculpture community. She has lectured on her art and has been interviewed for a web cast segment. She is a member of the National Sculpture Society and the International Sculpture Center. She was voted into the prestigious Sculptors Guild and serves on the executive board.

Ms. Scherl has a BFA from Washington University. She studied painting and sculpture at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League in New York City. Ms. Scherl, lives in Tenafly, New Jersey, with her family.

To find out more about Ms. Scherl and her artwork please visit her website: www.maryellenscherl.com.