Marianne Barcellona
Marianne Barcellona · Source: New York Artists Circle · Rights retained by the original rights holders
- Medium
- Gouache, Graphite, Ink, Oil Paint, Paper, Watercolor
- Practice
- Collage, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Works on Paper
Marianne Barcellona earned her B.A. from Oberlin College, then moved to New York City, where she spent two successful decades as a professional editorial photographer traveling the globe for major magazines, cultural and… Full biography
Biography
Marianne Barcellona earned her B.A. from Oberlin College, then moved to New York City, where she spent two successful decades as a professional editorial photographer traveling the globe for major magazines, cultural and humanitarian organizations, and corporations. In the late 1990’s she turned her attention to her personal art and earned a Certificate in Painting from The New York Studio School. Barcellona combines her love of photography, painting, and collage to create personal images that reflect her emotional responses to her life experiences. She has been awarded fellowships at ten internationally renowned artist residencies, and her work has been included in over 70 exhibitions. Barcellona’s great passion is travel, particularly to unfamiliar environments. Her direct and through-the-lens experiences of different cultures and landscapes provide the inspiration for her artwork.
Artist statement
I work intuitively, and although I begin my creative process with a general idea, I never really know where the actual work will end up. My work is a dialogue with myself over my internal responses to my environment, my memories, and my search for connection to "essence" in experience.
I like a surprise. I feel like an explorer when I work. With a mixture of excitement and anxiety, I put "one foot in front of the next," one mark or stroke or patch of paper next to another. I try to listen to what the work itself is telling me it about where wants to go. Sometimes I go for days without the connection that I crave, and I experience disappointment and frustration. But then suddenly the connection will click, and each next step becomes a matter of just following what my hand urgently wants to do. It feels like a state of grace when my hand, my eye, my heart, my materials, and the artwork itself seem to become one.
"Beauty" has gotten a bad reputation, the term "awesome" is now a glib cliche. But to me, these actual qualities in their original depth are what stop me in my tracks and compel me to create my art, particularly when they are also in the presence of an aura of incomprehensible mystery.
