ARTIST STATEMENT
I embrace technology because of the freedom it allows to experiment and challenge creative boundaries. As a juried artist for the Illinois Arts Council’s Arts-In-Education Roster I even taught a seminar entitled “If Picasso had a computer” to illustrate how Pablo would have gladly incorporated technology into his work. Digital technology is a powerful tool in the artist’s arsenal for creating artistic works with emotional integrity. My digital works utilize strong shapes, intense colors, movements and surface textures. My creative narrative can be layered with intensity and the mood can be spontaneously changed from one moment to the next. That immediacy allows for highly charged sensations and feelings while allowing for experimentation. In the pieces submitted for Digital Alchemy strong shapes are used; they are layered, moved playfully, and present contrasts. There are hidden messages, disguised purposefully to involve the viewer in an emotional journey. Art is my voice where I create visual puzzles with purposeful ambiguity. The intent is for the viewer to react. A curator has described my artwork as smart and thoughtful and dense with information, gorgeous with color. Mysterious and challenging…puzzles for the viewer to solve. This is my passion – to communicate emotion and narratives through art.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
My work has been juried and accepted by museum curators, gallery owners, educators and national/international artists including: 2023 North American Print Biennial juried by Elizabeth M. Rudy (Associate Curator of Prints at the Harvard Art Museums, Boston MA); Dubuque Museum of Art 2023 Biennial juried by Pamela Hugdahl (Executive Director, Rochester Art Center); Rockford Art Museum Biennial 2022 Juried Exhibit of Contemporary Artists juried by Frank Juarez publisher of Art Dose magazine; Andrew James Wulf, Ph.D. (Director – Albany Museum of Art); Gary Freeburg (Professor and Director of Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art at James Madison University); Amanda C. Burdan (Associate Curator – Brandwine River Museum of Art); Christiane Paul (Director of Media Studies at New School, NY and Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art); Malcolm Daniel (Curator of Photographs – Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC); Kenneth Baker (Art Critic, San Francisco Chronicle); Siri Engberg (Walker Art Center); Dorothy Simpson Krause (Educator and Authority on digital art); Stephen Phillips (Phillips Collection – Washington DC); Sam Gilliam (international artist); and Ed Paschke (international artist). A Ragdale Residency Fellow, I am a juried member of the Illinois Arts Council’s Arts-In-Education Roster. My work has been in exhibits including solo exhibits at Northwestern University and Concordia University. I have received national and regional awards. A juror of art competitions, I was also fine art consultant and advisor for Grumbacher/Prismacolor along with developing a training program for Blick Art. My artwork is in corporate, university and private art collections.
© Marcia Babler