Meet Mary Trunk: Filmmaker, Choreographer and Multi-media Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mary Trunk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When I first think about risk I imagine myself bungee jumping and I panic. But that kind of risk only lasts a short time and it doesn’t really build on anything even though it takes more guts than I could ever muster. For me risk is about starting somewhere that has no end. As if you’re looking at a fog bank and you know you need to get through it and there’s not much to guide you. It is making the decision to move in a direction that could lead anywhere and having the courage to keep going. It is trusting that you will come out the other end with a new understanding and a new way of looking at the world – despite how difficult the path may seem. And just when you think you understand where you’re headed, the rug gets pulled out from under you, another fog bank appears and you have to keep searching and moving. It never ends and therein lies the beauty of the journey. If we knew where we were going, what a dull path, right? Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career? A creative life is the only choice I have. It saves me from the mundane ordinary world we have to live in. It makes me see the ordinary as strangely beautiful. It makes me see my life through a lens of creative possibilities. I can be curious, observant and live in my imagination. Pursing the arts can often be terrifying, lonely and confusing but I have found that it takes me to places that force me to grow. And that makes my work better and allows me to connect with others. Art, creativity and the freedom to create gives me a reason to be here. It’s a kind of immortality. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started out drawing and painting, became a choreographer and then a filmmaker. Each practice brings new ideas and approaches. They continually inform and influence each other. Sometimes they become part of one work, for example dance videos which incorporate cinematic techniques with choreography. I am curious about a lot of things and I’ve always been an observer. Curiosity and observation take me to challenging places in my work. But the most important part of making art for me is just to keep making it. If I don’t start somewhere and keep moving forward, observing the world, staying curious, I lose momentum. I lose out on the beauty of discovery. It’s as simple as putting the first mark on a drawing. How do I react to that? What’s the next mark? Is there another mark? What if I ruin it? I have to push it and risk destruction and not be afraid to start over. While this philosophy is certainly not new and does not set me apart from others, it has kept me working and creating. I made a choice to make a living as a college professor which definitely affords me time and space to follow my artistic pursuits. I teach film production, documentary filmmaking and screen dance. Not only do I have the wonderful opportunity to teach what I love doing, I have the huge benefit to continue learning. I am not that interested in the marketplace and I don’t have to be. It is important that my work connects with others because art is about communication. In all the work that I do, I try and create an emotional connection. Personal stories and experiences are what people seem drawn to and what they remember most after experiencing art. My documentary films often follow characters over many years. I establish a trust with my subjects so they feel safe revealing their vulnerabilities, their regrets, their accomplishments and their inner lives. In that way, viewers are able to see themselves. My films are about the tragedy of broken families, divorce, neglect and betrayal, the struggles and joys of raising children while keeping an artist identity, the beauty of dance, aging, architecture, music and intimate stories that we recognize in our own lives. My screen dance work combines the abstract movement language of dance with the camera. The work is a translation of a live dance performance into a cinematic experience that becomes a completely new art form, essentially a hybrid and synthesis of film and dance. My paintings and drawings are a continuation of an abstract language that affords me the opportunity to push an art piece to the point of no return. It’s a risk taking exercise which means many of them never see the light of day but I take this practice to my film and screen dance work. And I am able to take more risks there. It’s never really easy making art but it can be a pleasurable albeit sometimes frustrating experience. The biggest challenge for me is sharing it with the world, a world that may not understand or worse be indifferent to it. It is difficult to keep going when the connection doesn’t happen. And yet, it’s all I can do – keep going.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When people visit I often have to talk them out of the usual tourist sites so I make sure I have good alternatives. Here are some of the top things on my list: • Hikes in the mountains behind my house in Altadena. • Museum of Jurassic Technology • Triple Beam Pizza • Griffith Observatory • The Getty Center

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Paul Sanchez (Cinematographer/Director) who opens my eyes to ways of thinking and feeling that my mind often rejects but needs. My daughter who shows me how to be in a world that I will soon not recognize. My artist friends who willingly collaborate with me even if I don’t exactly know where I’m going. Pina Bausch and Split Britches for having the courage to make work that inspires me and makes me feel brave. Composer, David Shohl, who is one of the most prolific artists I know despite incredible challenges in his life and who composed the sound score for my newest film (coming soon), Muscle Memory. Caren McCaleb, who is an idea machine and an incredible film editor and collaborator. My students who teach me a lot more than I teach them. And the UCSC dance department that accepted me into their program long ago. If that had not happened I never would have known I could be a dancer, choreographer and filmmaker.

Website: https://www.musclememoryproject.com/
Instagram: @marytrunk, @musclememoryproject
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-trunk-728b837/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maandpafilms
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.trunk/, https://www.facebook.com/musclememoryproject, https://www.facebook.com/maandpafilms
Other: https://vimeo.com/user5746825 https://maandpafilms.com/

Image Credits
Mary Trunk Caren McCaleb