Mairin Gwyn Narron

MFA ’20 Sculpture

Mairin is a North Carolina based artist who creates work pertaining to engendered stereotypes by using candy as her medium. She received her Bachelors in Fine Arts at East Carolina University where she also is currently a Masters in Fine Arts candidate. In her undergraduate career, she studied heavy metal fabrication and created large steel sculptures. As a female sculptor who worked with steel, she experienced various forms of sexism which were the impetus to her creation of her current body of work. She hopes that through awareness, her work will impact those who view it to adjust their views on engendered traditions.

No Added Sugar!
Derived from personal experience, No Added Sugar! calls to question gender-based norms embraced by the culture in America. Using candy as the main medium, this body of work equates imposing traditional feminine ideals onto women to overindulging in sugar. Women are taught to be sweet in both appearance and attitude. As a young woman in America, the pressure to embrace feminine ideals is ever present, weighing on myself and others. This series showcases my personal transition from struggling with sexist notions to developing a sense of power, which is shown in the transformation of how the candy is used in my pieces. What was once hurting me is now being used to represent power and strength. In every direction, there is reflection, in every direction there is a beauty, and in every direction, there is you. Stay, reflect and step into your power.