Above photo: Artist Mary McFarren surrounded by work from her new solo show Sunny but Cold Diaries of Farm Women

ROXBURY — On the eve of this season’s biggest snowstorm, on a coincidentally sunny but cold day, Mary McFarren’s new solo show Sunny but Cold: Diaries of Farm Women debuted at the Walter Meade Gallery in Roxbury. McFarren’s latest multimedia exhibition draws its inspiration from diaries of New York State farm women in the 19th and early 20th centuries and depicts the spirit of daily life through her fiber collage work, embroidery, sculpture and drawings.

When McFerran relocated to the Catskills a few years ago, she discovered an abandoned farm next to her property. Once, while making drawings of the farm, she ventured into the deserted barn and was moved by what appeared to be a time capsule. “It was almost as if one day they just left. There were pieces of old furniture, the stalls where the cows were milked, big piles of lambswool, eaves full of birds’ nests…”, says McFerran. That experience sparked her curiosity about what their lives must have been like, particularly the women, and how hard they must have worked on the farm.

McFerran then began her journey to turn her inspiration into a project. First, she collected found objects, rusted items that lent themselves to recreate the atmosphere she experienced in the barn. She utilized her eco-dying practice, employing botanical dyes from marigolds and celosia that she grew, as well as rust, to color fabrics that would have been used during that time such as cottons and linens. She then went to the Town of Delhi Historical Society and tapped into their extensive collection of diaries, researching women’s daily lives on the farms, opening up the common perception many have of women being the ‘farmers’ wives’ and revealing that women were more accurately farmers in their own right. 

McFerran made note of phrases that stood out in the diaries and shares, “Instead of finding the emotional life of these women, I found more like calendars of things that needed to be done, and always a note about the weather”, with one entry calling forth the show’s namesake and signature piece, Sunny but Cold. Many of the phrases she collected can be found meticulously embroidered into the pieces. Rusted objects, including a railroad spike and her grandfather’s wrench are thoughtfully incorporated and literally held by the dyed fabrics, weaving together a spectrum of emotion, juxtaposing hard and soft, portraying challenge and optimism. 

There were not a lot of photos from that time, but McFerran used the few she did find to inform her charcoal and ink drawings of women sorting beans, doing laundry and chopping wood. She put together a book featuring some of her research material, including historical documents detailing expenditures and income, and select journal entries which upon reading, instantly humanizes these historical women through their handwriting. 

McFerran seamlessly creates a nostalgic world through the wide variety of materials she uses in this show, including handwoven baskets she made that adorn the large vignette wall and a sheep sculpture made from raw sheep’s wool. An upcycled vintage drying rack is used in a standout piece entitled Squall Mobile that exposes new revelations with each viewing. Warm, a Little Misty is an impressive cloth book comprising embroidered drawings, photos, and diary phrases on eco-dyed cloth that offers viewers a tactile interactive experience. 

Sunny but Cold: Diaries of Farm Women encompasses only a portion of the work McFerran made while exploring this subject matter. Perhaps we can hope for an evolving series. This thought-provoking and nuanced show invites the viewer to travel back to a much simpler time and pay respect to the women who once worked the land we now call home.

Sunny but Cold: Diaries of Farm Women will be on view through March 14th at the Walter Meade Gallery of the Roxbury Arts Center at 5025 Vega Mountain Rd, Roxbury, NY 12474. Visit roxburyartsgroup.org for upcoming events related to this exhibit, and to see more of Mary McFerran’s work, follow @moorhen2 on Instagram and visit her website marymcferran.com.

Squall Mobile

Embroidered works including a flip book made of fabric capturing phrases and images of late 19th and early 20th century farm life