Statement / About
I am interested in the way the transcendent bumps up against the mundane, and the ways these two polar opposites can eclipse one another, interweaving and even becoming one another. I see the activity of breathing as just such an illustration, blurring the line between everyday mundane reality and one's dependence upon the sublime.
For many years I have been drawn toward expansive, large surfaces that dwarf my sense of self, allowing me to explore through paint what I see as an ongoing symbiotic narrative with the invisible. In that sense these large works feel dynamic and living, take on their own life outside of my command. Invariably 'the everyday' emerges in the form of fragmented letterforms and calligraphic marks, in pieces of Coca-Cola logos and Nike swooshes. In these collisions I find new ways of seeing the imprint of nature on culture and vice versa.
__
Marshall Roemen lives and works in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Haley. He received a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland in 2000, and an MFA from the University of Oregon in 2005.