BANGOR, Maine — When the world is literally your canvas, the opportunities are endless. That's a message Bangor eco-artist Mariah Reading has taken to heart, as the past few months have unfolded for her.
"Oh my gosh -- this has been a whirlwind," Mariah exclaimed to NEWS CENTER Maine, sitting at a quaint kitchen table in a home that looks like it belongs to an artistic family. Paintings and sculptures decorate the living area, and a few of Reading's favorite pieces are perched on an aged piano.
"I never thought that I could kind of make a living out of this," Mariah said honestly. "The fact that those opportunities are starting to stack up a little -- it's just thrilling."
Those opportunities are ones she experienced as 2019 came to a close. NEWS CENTER Maine first met Reading when she was doing an art residency program at Acadia National Park, back in October 2019. Since then, she has shot a commercial with Subaru and the Washington Post, set up shot at an art show in Hudson Valley, New York, and is getting ready to embark on a trip to Antarctica to continue her work.
Mariah's artistic abilities are clear, in the blending of colors and intricate brushstrokes on each of her pieces; but what makes her artwork perhaps more unique than some is the mission behind it. For the past few years, Mariah has been collecting pieces of trash she finds at national parks and painting them into the landscape where she picked them up. She then photographs them, in a sort of optical illusion camouflage, and shares the pictures on Instagram with her thousands of followers.
Her message? To raise awareness about the waste humans leave behind -- even in beautiful places and protected grounds, like national parks -- and try to protect the environment one brushstroke at a time.
"Art has the power to capture these moments and these landscapes that most likely will not look similar at all in the next decade -- or even shorter," Reading shook her head.
While she is humble about her accomplishments, those close to her like to brag about them -- just a little bit. Reading's father, Brian, says he was a little confused when his daughter first let him in on her project during a road trip to California a few years ago.
"She said, 'Well, let's bring some plastic bags along with us, and we'll collect trash along the way,'" Brian recalled, chuckling. "I (was) like, 'What?'"
But the young 20-something's path down an artistic road soon began to take flight, and Brian says he was impressed, even though Mariah and her brother had shown artistic abilities from a young age.
"I mean, she's making beautiful objects, but she's doing it with a purpose and for a cause," Brian explained, regarding why he thinks his daughter's work is unique.
Professionals all around the country apparently do, as well. Reading just finished filming a commercial with Subaru about her work and her process -- and she was selected this month as one of four out of 160 submitting artists to display her work at the Locust Grove Estate in Poughkeepsie, New York.
"To see visually 15 shoes lined up that people forgot and didn't pick up behind them in the landscape is a really great way to mark what we're doing to the world around us," Ken Snodgrass, the Executive Director of Locust Grove Estate, told NEWS CENTER Maine over the phone about why selectors appreciate Reading's exhibit.
"So far, everybody has loved it," Snodgrass added, speaking about the visitors who come in to observe. "People really appreciate her concept."
It's why Mariah hopes to continue her project for as long as she can -- and when you're turning trash into treasure, that's a goal likely everyone can get behind.
"We don't really have time or the resources to afford to waste them, right?" Mariah expressed. "We have to use our gifts and our passions and our talents to leave this earth better than we found it."