ARTIST STATEMENT
The branching of trees, synapses firing, the rhythm of water lapping on the shore, the constant beating of the human heart. It all speaks of life. Pattern, repetition, and change. The microscopic and macroscopic echo each other remarkably in movement and form, in the gathering of force and the dissolution of form, and in the replication of these processes over and over again. The act of drawing, painting--mark-making--is a process imitative of life.
Artist photo: Dorothee Dietrich
As an artist I am interested in inner sensations, the inner workings of the human mind and perception, not in literal representation. How does a waterfall feel, its roar, its pounding splashes? How can I convey the heat and constant flickering light of a crackling fire through painting? Living forms are in constant flux. Having been born, raised on the Atlantic coast, water is a visual metaphor for me for human thought/perception, as well as human interaction with environment. Water and fire are both fundamental to life; yet each can be massively destructive to life, too.
The natural elements are visual metaphors for states of mind and emotion. Water Distillations symbolize solace, mediation, healing and joy. Solar and Fire Distillations stand for inner spirit, passion, anger and determination.
Throughout all the current global turmoil, there is still the beauty, the richness, the joy of life and nature to sustain and invigorate us. This is what art evokes for me. August 2020.
BIO
After living in Minnesota for many years, we moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in late autumn, 2018—a longterm goal of ours. We have been enjoying its rich culture, arts scene and beautiful terrain. While my previous work emphasized water in the form of rivers and lakes in Minnesota, the new landscape has me focusing on the vast skies and mountains of New Mexico.
Art making, art education, art history, and women in art have been the exclusive focus of my 30-year career. My training as a visual artist (MFA, 2002) and as an art historian (MA, PhD., 1988, 2000) work synergistically for me, with an inter-disciplinary approach incorporated into my teaching and mentoring.
A professional painter exhibiting on a regular basis, WARM Mentor 2007-2018, Women's Caucus for Art member and exhibitor, curator/organizer of seven exhibitions, former University of Minnesota and Hamline University adjunct faculty, and former museum educator, I have thirty years of experience as a college instructor of painting and drawing, modern and contemporary art history, and women in art. I have also served as an artist-in-residence in more than twenty schools in St. Paul, MN. As a result, I have had the joy of sharing my love of art with all age groups.
Highlights of my career include work selected for the upcoming 12th Annual Juried Plein Air Painters of New Mexico exhibition, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art Gallery, Taos, November 2020, the 2016 WCA/Katherine E. Nash Gallery "Women and Money" Exhibition and Project; selection by famous writer/critic Lucy Lippard, who juried the on-going travel exhibition, Women and Water Rights: Rivers of Regeneration (2009-2012); work appearing in the juried publications, Studio Visit, 2010, and International Contemporary Artists, 2011; and, by invitation, the cover and featured artist, of Exploring TOSCA, a Twin Cities arts magazine, Summer issue 2011, and Winter issue 2014.
View Marcia's full resumé here