McCormack was born in Boston and received her MFA from the University of California at Berkeley. She is Associate Professor in the Painting Department at the San Francisco Art Institute. McCormack was the recipient of the first SFAI faculty residency at the American Academy in Rome, three Buck Foundation individual artist grants and a Djerassi Residency. She is currently collaborating with San Francisco composer Kurt Rohde on designing the sets for an opera he is writing.


Artist statement:

This series of paintings continues to emphasize the canvas as a contained space and my desire to witness both the impulsive and impetuous as well as the restrained and subdued in one space. Combining landscape design drawings, stark architectural elements and loosely interpreted botanical forms, the paintings manifest a range of felt energies reflected through the natural world. Lush paint, the physicality of the execution and the history of decisions are obvious and unapologetically optical. Form is referential but not realistic, more fully inviting the viewer’s participation.