Extremes of scale tend to highlight uncanny morbid elements that might otherwise be overlooked, bringing undefined features into sharper focus. The artist translates these enigmatic leitmotifs into edgy perceptually alive three-dimensional acrylic paintings that collapse abstract-figurative boundaries. All manner of related networks and surprising connections among organs, orifices, viscera and bones arise that defy our everyday expectations.

The new works mine the provocative narrative possibilities springing from intense observation of organic juxtapositions that allude to discord and desires likewise to be found in the human sphere, creating vivid metamorphic configurations charged with the underpinnings of fables or human dramas.  Sometimes Hrbacek’s simplified cartoon-like forms recall animated film characters that are especially recognizable in the works entitled “Close Call,” “Witch and Bewitched,” and “Imploring,” where two figures, ostensibly male and female, are positioned in hierarchical stances, engaging in power negotiations.

The unusual postures that attract her, such as the abject “Topsy Turvy,” express both the unconscious discomfort and the fascination she experiences when confronted with challenging bizarre life situations that defy control.  Hrbacek transports trees from a traditional landscape vision to an arena of powerful personifications whose formal intricacies render them believable.  These juxtapositions provide clues to the inner drive that motivates her need for expression. 

Among Mary Hrbacek’s many shows in galleries and museums, the most notable museum shows include those at The National Academy of Design, The Muscarelle Museum of the College of William and Mary, “American Drawing Biennial VI,” where she was awarded the Juror’s Choice  prize, by Ann Philbin, The Drawing Center, NYC.  In 2005 Hrbacek showed at the Parrish Art Museum in an exhibition curated by Sara Nightingale.  In 2006 she exhibited her drawings in a six-month installation at Roger Smith. In 2010, she took part in Art Beijing, China, and she presented her drawings in a two-person show at Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver, curated by Lynn Ruscheinsky, founder of the “Drawn Festival.”  In 2012, Hrbacek took part in “In the End a Good Story is all That Remains,” curated by Edward Rubin, at Fran Hill Gallery, Toronto. Most recently, she participated in “Covert Narratives,” curated by Thalia Vrachropoulos, the Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC.