Marie Larkin
CREATIVE PRACTICE
Marie Larkin is a fine artist creating mixed media paintings and drawings. Commissions accepted.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I’ve always been drawn to things aged, weathered or vintage that tell a story through the marks left by use or time. Like rusting tin sheds and neglected exterior walls and fences, or driftwood and peeling bark, or the old furniture and found natural and man made objects I have collected and placed about our home, a history is sensed through the patina of colours, marks and remnants of previous coats of paint.
Creating a rich ‘history’ of marks informed by my love of well worn textures, is the driving element that underpins my current explorations. I strive to create paintings with an engaging balance, abstract in structure yet organic in my choice of colors, mark making and layered techniques. Each mark and application of colour leads me to the next in my creative path from beginning to the completion of a piece that for me is genuine and has integrity. I build layers in a process that is both additive and subtractive, beginning ‘in the moment’ with less intent as I apply paint and pigments and make marks with brushes and a variety of tools into the wet surface, to build texture and depth. I erase, scratching, sanding, scrubbing. I add, washing, making marks and lines. I conceal and reveal. The process that allows the expressive forms to emerge is both accidental and purposeful. There is an exciting element of anticipation and surprise process as I reveal marks I remember making and loved or discovering ones I had forgotten were there.
Having been a representational artist for over twelve years, removing the recognisable object or subject from my work has allowed me to explore structure and tension. Tension between the muted colors, subtle textures and marks with that of the bold forms that conceal and in turn reveal nuances in my paintings. I seek to create pieces that have a fundamental strength and stability while simultaneously having a sense of the transitory, drawing attention with a bold statement, but inviting a lingering, intimate contemplation through the whispered ‘history’ of ‘older’ marks revealed.
BIO
Marie Larkin is an Australian artist from rural NSW. She began her career as an artist in the 1990’s, making fine embroidered pieces revealing aspects of her daily life as a mother. She won both The Dame Nancy Buttfield Embroidery Prize and The Namoi Valley Cotton Fibre Acquisitive Award for her work. Her exhibition ‘Revealing Threads’ was the recipient of a 10,000 AUD Arts Grant, touring Regional Galleries in three states.
Marie began painting seriously after 2008 and spent some time exploring mixed media. Over the past twelve years she has earned her place as one of Australia’s most successful Lowbrow artists with a substantial global following of fans and collectors. She has exhibited in both group and solo shows with galleries such as Corey Helford Gallery and Copro Nason in Los Angeles, Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, Urban Nation in Berlin and AFA Gallery in New York. Her work has been published in leading art journals worldwide.
CONTACT
0428 662 243
marie@marielarkin.com.au
DM Instagram : @marielarkin
