from a review in the Rio Grande Sun 10/04/07

A number of Hockenbery’s photographs tend toward the haunting. They grab you immediately — sometimes you aren’t even sure why at first — and draw you closer, even if, sometimes, you are tempted to move further away. They are intoxicating and, at the same time, just a little bit unsettling.

A doll, aged and surface worried, cracked lines covering the face, stares at you as if, all of a sudden, it will become animated. The eyes sunken in the head, you start imagining, will flit this way and that. The doll will suddenly sit up; perhaps stretch — maybe towards you. You catch your breath and take a step back. You notice the lipstick on the dolls lips. Has it worn off with age or has it just not been completely applied, like a shoddy job of makeup application you might imagine from a mental patient. You back away; turn to leave, and then look again at the doll, making sure it is still sitting where you last saw it.

A circus performer waits outside a tent entrance. The light glows eerily green. She has a hand on her hip, blond wig, and an allure that reminds you of Marilyn. You almost find yourself wondering if it is Monroe — back to life for one last

stunning entrance.

A television set sits slightly askew in an abandoned building. A console model. Perhaps something out of the sixties, Kennedy era. Nothing out of the ordinary here. But then you notice that on the screen of this abandoned TV is a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe. A statement on TV evangelism? Something akin to the face of Christ on a tortilla? Is someone still living in this seemingly abandoned building? Or is it a sign of perpetual hope that many find in the image of the Virgin?

Hockenbery’s photographs make you ask questions. You

find yourself looking at them more closely and fully because

of the questions they produce. But you find yourself, after leaving an exhibit of Hockenbery photos, still asking questions, and questions not only about the photographs themselves, but also about life in general. People in general. Relationships. Religion. Etc. And offering up images that prompt that questioning is what Hockenbery seems to do very well, as good art and photography

is apt to do.

selected for New Mexico Women in the Arts Originals 2007

show at the Harwood Museum - Taos New Mexico

selected Beauty Redefined JPG issue #10 June 2007

winner in the NewWest Summer 2006 roadtrip contest:

"The winner of the Roadtrip '06 Roadside Americana category is....Mary Hockenbery, of Dixon, New Mexico for her image "Paris, Idaho." Mary is another familiar name on New West, as her work has appeared frequently as "Featured Images" on the New West pages. Mary, who goes by the screenname "Reddirtrose" on FLICKR, is known for very quiet and extremely powerful images. Her best rise into the realm of the spiritual. In "Paris, Idaho" we see a very fortunate combination of subject and lighting, and a very bold, centered composition that communicates age, isolation and loneliness enveloped in a magically moody radiance. It both breaks your heart and somehow mends it up again."

selected for JPG Magazine 2005 - Issue 4

Utata spotlight:

www.utata.org/spotlights/19514.php

www.utata.org/spotlights/14608.php