Marilee Salvator

ARTIST STATEMENT

            As far back as I can recall, art has been a vital part of my life. Although its role has changed over time depending on my state of mind and emotions, it has remained significant.  Art has gotten me through arduous times and has allowed me to communicate with the world when I felt I had no other way.  It has been my language, not just my occupation. The majority of my work functions on a multitude of levels.  Conceptualism tends to drive my intellectual pursuit and placement within the contemporary art world, while at the same time my love for formalism and visual beauty remains equally evident.
              I tend to flux back and forth between issues of autobiography, feminist ideals and abstraction.  My most recent complete body of work, finished earlier this year, incorporated all of these ideologies.  It was an exploration into a childhood that I had spent years trying to forget. The images were created through various printmaking techniques including monotype and silkscreen. On one level the work functions as sophisticated abstraction.  Upon closer examination, the images reveal mixed media elements such as; child-like drawing, collaged instructional, 'sex-ed', gendered materials, and the actual stains of menstrual fluid. Through the juxtaposition of adult sexual imagery and childlike themes, I hoped to illuminate the deep-seated confusion and scarring that sexual molestation can create.
             As with many feminist artists, my work is rooted in process.  Sometimes I sit in the studio and draw repetitive circles for hours, only to stop to stretch my hands. I see process as a ritual or a form of meditation that frees up the mind of unnecessary thoughts. I tend to set up working situations that lend themselves to these types of obsessive handiwork.
All of my works can be viewed on a more formal level. I am inspired by the patterns that occur in my surrounding environment. In such patterns I look for alluring shapes and repetitions. These diverse patterns spark my interest for various reasons; I choose patterns that have individual relevance or patterns that evoke personal associations. I remove these shapes from their current context and incorporate them into my own abstract language.          
The most important image making process I employ is layering.  Layering allows the work to slowly reveal it’s self to me. I admire the beauty of transparency and rich textural surfaces I can create through this process.  I see a connection between my working process and the various levels of the human experience. Nothing can truly be understood through one experience (one layer) we must look at things over time and through various perspectives to truly understand their significance.                                    

  Marilee Salvator