A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA, my primary degree is in Fine Art from Principia College, in Elsah, Illinois, USA with additional Masters degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Though I have been painting and exhibiting for over 40 years, the bulk of my recent professional work has been in landscape architecture, and I am still a registered landscape architect in Pennsylvania. In 2016, however, I realized a goal of 40 years’ standing of moving to France. While continuing to be involved in landscape architecture, I have shifted the primary emphasis of my work to a focus on art. Current work is an exploration of the representation of differing states of energy, created and perceived in differing historical time periods. The project centers around those Parisian parks associated with a moment of violence in French history where any evidence of that violence has been replaced by beauty, peace, and relaxation. It will involve research, new, interpretive artwork, and publication via a blog, expositions, and ultimately a book.
In addition to the work for the Paris Parks project, additional work falls predominantly in three series: “A Daily Practice,” “Portraits of a Life,” and “Etudes.” The pieces in the series “A Daily Practice” are meditations and interpretations, through visual means as well as through blog entries, of the events and activities in my life, as well as the events and activities that inform my life. The Portraits start with some sort of a grid which is then overlaid by a more fluid, gestural layer. These pieces are explorations of the relationships between the elements of structure in our lives – relationships, jobs, social commitments, interests and the energies and activities that grow out of, interact with, and inform that underlying structure. The pieces in the “Etudes” series are studies in color harmony and spatial tension, exploring the balance and sometimes imbalance created by the juxtaposition of related hues or shifts in scale. Work in all three series is ongoing.
Contact info: marc@marcolsen.net
Website: www.marcolsen.net
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