Mary Elizabeth Alford is a multi-media artist and furniture designer based in Richmond, VA who focuses on creating pieces that illustrate and deconstruct perceptions of womanhood. She combines feminine, domestic iconography with elements that portray isolation and confinement. Her work establishes an inflection point for young women in which they push against reinforced stereotypes and choose to actively pursue their own desires to escape this confinement as opposed to passively believing that there are no preconceived notions about what women should do in this world.

While her work combines historically recognizable designs, materials, and craftsmanship with seemingly outdated gender stereotyping rules, her practice is deeply based on personal experience, scientific research, and coming-of-age literature. The goal of her work is to encourage young, adult women to take advantage of the opportunity that their generation has that those before them did not have, time to pursue their own aspirations. They have more time to set themselves up in their careers and figure out what makes them unique, and so they need to take advantage of that time with urgency. Her work serves as a reminder to not give in to the pressure to abide by historic domestic standards that still weigh heavy upon young women.

BS - University of Richmond: Visual Arts and Media Practices