Marie Szalkiewicz

Breakthrough, 2020

Acrylic paint pour, glitter, powdered gold pigment & gemstones

Diptych - each canvas is 16 x 12"

Value: $436

*This piece is included in the Opening Night Collection.

Artist Bio:

Marie Szalkiewicz (Mars) is a Brooklyn-based artist and arts administrator. She also works with festivals and events in an art deco and fabrication capacity. She holds a B.A. in Art History and B.A. in Communication Studies from UCLA and went on to receive her M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University. Mars has a long-lived passion for the arts and an interest in continuously shaping conversations, raising important questions, and supporting equitable access to the arts.

Mars has created art all her life, returning to her practice especially when day-to-day life feels increasingly stressful and overwhelming. She prefers working with acrylics due to its ability to be manipulated in different ways to create various textures and patterns that bring feelings of happiness, excitement, and adventure to her viewers. Her current body of work has also begun to incorporate mixed media elements such as glitter, gold powder, and mirrors to add youthful and playful dimensions to the canvas. Mars focuses on the juxtaposition of traditional, realistic representations of figures and objects with abstract patterns, forms, and other eye-catching elements. Painting has always been a means for Mars to explore fantastical ideas in which the audience can experience her drive to portray a dreamlike world that is both meditative and exciting.