Marie McCarty 

Marie D. McCarty is a passionate artist and teacher based in Fountain Hills, Arizona, known for her expressive self-portraits. Her work is an exploration into her personal experiences of being diagnosed with late-stage melanoma. Through her art, Marie aims to evoke emotions in the viewer by portraying a first-person narrative of her own experiences, putting the viewer inside the patient's experiences. Marie often uses physical artifacts of these experiences within her work. Immunotherapy needles, IV bags, rubber gloves, masks, gurneys, biohazard bags, diagnostic machines and even doctors litter her imagery as stark reminders of the time put in 'surviving'. Marie hopes to bring awareness to the deadly effects that  the sun can have on one's body when they choose to make careless decisions. These poor choices once made by Marie as a teenager are used as reflective ideals in her body of work. 

Born in Central Illinois in 1972. As a young girl, growing up in a small town in the Midwest, Marie grew up in a time of  playing outside in the sun all day, unprotected and free. As a teen Marie fell into the trends of the late 80's and frequently visited tanning beds in attempt to gain a golden tan. These uneducated choices of youth are now a great struggle in Marie's daily life and the source for much of her current art. 

Marie earned her BA (1995) and MA in Art Education (1997) at the University of Illinois. Her teaching experience spans five states over 20 years. She is currently working to earn her MFA in painting at Savannah College of Art and Design. Marie is working towards completion in 2026 and hopes to teach painting at a higher educational institution.