M.J. Levy Dickson explores global interconnectedness through her artwork, and has discovered a common denominator in the natural world. She finds in nature patterns of color, light, mood, subject, texture, and sound, which transcend conventional boundaries, such as those between land and water or time and space. These discoveries she reflects in her varied artwork, from her tenures as artist-in-residence in Tangier and at the Perkins School for the Blind to her many exhibitions in Iceland, Bali, the Caribbean, the American Southwest and China.
Dickson works in a variety of mediums to convey a composite relationship between mood and subject. With a deep body of work spanning oils, watercolor, pen and ink, glass and now metal sculpture, Dickson frequently explores the intersections of water with land and life. She adapts form, color, line, texture, weight, and mood to her unique expression. Playing the boundaries between Abstract, Realist, and Expressionist, she finds, records, and is inspired by the universal in nature.
Dickson has taught at MIT, the Boston Architectural Center, and Wenzhou-Kean University in China. Working with people with limited vision, mental health problems, children, older adults, individuals on the autism spectrum, and others with special needs has honed her instinct for art as communication. She provides a counterpoint to a culture in which emotions are intellectualized and verbalized – yet not available to everyone in these forms. Encompassing thought and meaning visually, tactilely, and aurally, she offers a bridge by which diverse audiences can experience the unexpressed.
Although Dickson finds accommodating studio practice and public art a balancing act, she is tackling the challenge of harmonizing one with the other to produce the best possible work and the most interesting and inspiring experiences for audiences.
She has exhibited in numerous group & solo shows and is in many private and museum collections. MJ is represented on Nantucket by Robert Foster Fine Art, and additional works can be seen at Nantucket Looms.