ARTIST STATEMENT
Directly printing on paper with fruit and ink led me to discover a raw, basic, and primary nature of creating art work. Implementing fruit as an art material, evoked me to connect cycles, systems and structures of an organic fruited body to those of the human body. These connections and concepts explored in my work involving the human body are influenced by the body’s structures & systems, proportions & scales, interiors & exteriors, textures & colors, and orientations & identities.
Working with a fruited body, such as a tomato, blackberry, peach, orange or apple enables me to employ a messy wet media that possesses visceral, tactile, and sensual qualities inspired by the microcosm of the human body. Flesh, seeds, skins, and juices from the fruits combined with ink on paper, capture essential moments of the fruited body and transform the fruit into narratives illustrating cellular sequences, phases, and generations.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
After graduating from Pratt Institute Brooklyn, NY, with a BFA, I returned to Chicago to practice working in the visual arts. Three years later, I was accepted to the University of Chicago where I earned my MFA. After graduating from the University of Chicago, I opened Framing Mode & Gallery, a contemporary art gallery and custom framing boutique in Chicago’s South Loop (Oct 2003 to Feb 2018). As I am a social activist, Framing Mode’s Gallery was a platform for social change and we hosted fundraising events for Mercy for Animals, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), & The Burning Man Festival. I also worked with several Chicago non for profits, such as Rock for Kids, Project Onward and The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
Currently, (March 2022-present), I hold the position of Curator at The Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. Along with a prolific studio practice, I organize, curate, design and install the 4th Floor Gallery and the Corridor Gallery Bridgeport Art Center exhibitions.
My artwork has been featured in group and solo shows: Robert T. Wright Community Art Gallery, College of Lake County, Grayslake IL; Dittmar Memorial Gallery at Northwestern University, Evanston IL; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago Il; South Suburban College, South Holland IL; Installation Nation, Indianapolis IN; John Almquist Gallery at the North Shore Country Day School, Winnetka, Il; Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL; The Art Center Highland Park, Highland Park, IL; Bridgeport Art Center’s premier competition: recognized for best 3D work in the exhibition.
© Marci Rubin