Born in Northern Ireland, Mary Little is a Los Angeles-based sculptor whose work centers on the exploration of materiality, focusing on the interaction between light, surface, and gravity. Using unbleached cotton canvas as her primary medium, she creates elegant, textured forms through the processes of tailoring and sewing. Little’s artistic practice is deeply ritualistic, involving precise pattern-making, cutting, and stitching, with each step contributing to the overall form and expression of the piece. Inspired by the natural landscape of her childhood in Northern Ireland, Little’s sculptures evoke a sensibility of the outdoors, though her focus remains firmly on the material itself rather than direct representations of nature.

Mary Little's career initially began as a furniture designer after studying at London’s prestigious Royal College of Art. For over twenty-five years, she crafted functional pieces, but in 2015, she made a conscious break from this approach, shifting her focus to creating works entirely devoid of functional references. Her new direction was first exhibited in 2018 at Craft Contemporary Museum in Los Angeles, followed by a solo exhibition at the Craft in America Center.

Her work is included in prominent public and private collections, such as the Vitra Design Museum in Basel, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Little has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2019. Her pieces have been acquired for private collections across Europe and North America, and her work has garnered attention in publications like Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Surface magazines.