Rousseaux is an artist fluent in different visual medias -- painting, sculpture, the artist book and photography, but remains primarily a painter. Her fluency and versatility has allowed her to expand the language of painting. She has been at the forefront of creating work that pushes the imagination and challenges the traditional definitions and formal concerns of contemporary painting. Working on or altering the two-dimensional surface, continuing to investigate how we see, her work conveys a layering and compression of time, space and place that is directly informed by the changing landscape of the city. Her work continues to explore the ideas of memory and how they weave together to create our reality.
"My paintings, as well as much of my work in other media, are developed from layers of memories based on observations and my experiences of an actual place. Each painting, construction, collage or drawing is unique. Series 43 is one such series. It is of an area near Torch Lake, a place I know well. I spent my childhood there and saw it at different times of the day and in different seasons. Series 43 is the culmination of my memories reflected in color. They become a visual experience to the magical woods and lakes I experienced as a child." - Mary Rousseaux
Rousseaux is an active member of the arts community and has exhibited in the Detroit area for over 15 years. Her work can be found in many private and public collections, both national and international including in the permanent collection of The Detroit Institute of Arts. In addition, her work has been included in publications such as Architectural Digest and Traditional Home and most recently has been featured in the Fox series Empire. She continues to influence and mentor emerging artists through her dedication as an educator, her open door studio policy, and her curatorial practice.