MARSHA BALIAN Fabrications and Other Notions

MARSHA BALIAN
Fabrications and Other Notions
Solo Art Show

ARTSPACE
California Pacific Medical Center
   Women's Health Resource Center
   3698 California Street
   San Francisco CA 94118

Opening Reception Sunday September 14 2014 3:30pm-5:30pmThe show will run from September 8th until the end of the year
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday 9:30-1:00pm and 2:00-4:30pm   Saturday, Sunday 10:00 to 2:00pm

               

                        Other Art Shows for Balian:

                       (n) collage: a mixed media collage exhibit

                        Petaluma Art Center and Icehouse Gallery

                        400 E D Street Petaluma

                        www.icehousegallery.org

                        closes September 14



                        American Folk Art Festival

                        September 6, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

                        Madonna Estate, Napa California

                        www.americanfolkartfestival.com

                      
 ARTIST STATEMENT

There are three elements that compel the production of art for me. The first is a sense of mystery. I never know what will appear as I am working on a piece of art. I may begin the process with shadowy notions, but in many respects it is the force of curiosity that holds my attention captive. It is like reading a “whodunit” without the structure of a crime. I want to carry on until the conclusion.
Which isn’t to say that the work completes itself, or arrives with ghostly aid. But there is still a riddle to be solved, an equation to be resolved, a conundrum to be settled that I find more compelling or absorbing than any other activity in life.
I have no formal training or instruction in art. So the second element is invention. I test an idea, use whatever materials may be at hand, incorporate found objects, papers, detritus. The risks of failure are perhaps no different than any other pursuit, even with the benefit of instruction. But stubbornness trumps failure and I try until something works, at least to my own satisfaction.
The third influence for me is the power of story, both my own and that of others. Embedded in memory, or swimming in our thoughts, we all replay the narrative of our lives, perhaps to make sense of it, perhaps to extract threads of meaning. And all current experience interacts with the past.
I also work as a health care provider. In that role I am eyes and ears, absorbing data, stories, strength and struggle. All that I take in is mediated by love and humor, which is often the only weapon in the losing battles we all must face. That humor feeds me and infuses my artwork where I have the lucky opportunity to celebrate and laugh.

http://www.marshabalian.com/fabrications/index.html