Field of Dreams

Product Description

11.5″ x 11.5″, 17″ x 17″ with frame, Oil on Canvas

Exhibition at Flower Pepper Gallery: 3rd Year Anniversary Show from December 6th, 2014 to January 6th, 2015

Artist Statement About This Artwork:
‘Field of Dreams’ comes from ‘Paradisum Curiosum’ Marie Larkin’s newest body of work. The setting for these works was inspired by a solitary walk through the Melbourne Botanic Garden in 2013. There is a Steampunk aesthetic to the elaborate costumes of the women and the curious little contraptions they push, wheel and ride in. The luxurious softness of organza and velvet drapery rests against cold, hard and tarnished metal. While quite differnt stylistically, the paintings give a nod to the Rococo painter, Antoine Watteau’s variations on the theme of the fête champêtre which figures in ball dress or masquerade costumes disport themselves in parkland settings.

Artist Biography:
Marie Larkin is an Australian Pop Surrealist. Her art embodies an undeniably feminine oeuvre, meticulous execution and attention to detail. Works in painting, drawing and sculpture have been inspired by fairytale and nursery rhyme narratives, pop culture, beauty and the feminine persona.. She creates richly coloured, finely detailed, alternate worlds inhabited by beautiful girls, strange and mesmerising, with expressive eyes and dark natures. Most recently, female characters have an undeniable feminine force, strong, empowered and aloof. Her bodies of work continue to mature, gaining greater sophistication of style and consistency throughout.. Paintings and drawings retain her signature women who embue the works with narrative and emotional content.

Marie Larkin has a Bachelor of Art Education and has been a visual artist and art teacher since 1980. She gained national recognition and success in the 1990’s as an embroiderer with a number of group and solo shows and two touring exhibitions through regional galleries in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. Her work was featured in Textile Fibre Forum, The Land newspaper and Masters of their Craft, a coffee table book by art historian, Norris Iannou. She has won The Dame Nancy Buttfield Embroidery Prize and The Namoi Valley Cotton Fibre Acquisitive Award. Through the exhibition tour of Revealing Threads she was the recipient of a $10,000 Australia Council Grant that allowed her to travel to various towns and cities to give workshops. Marie now draws, paints and makes small sculptural works including customised toys.

Marie lives with her husband just outside Tamworth, in New South Wales. Her studio is in a loft upstairs with windows that look out to the hills and down the valley. Just below is her beloved pony Bailey who she still rides as often as her work allows. Fergie, Charlie, Poppy Rose and Daisy Mae, her four tiny dogs can usually be found sleeping in the sun around the studio and Alphonse the love bird keeps a watchful eye on everything.

Exhibitions:
Exhibitions 2014:
Solo Show Paradisum Curiosum – Tamworth Regional Gallery
Group Show -Three Year Anniversary – Flower Pepper Gallery, Pasadena

Exhibitions 2013:
Sugar Town Solo Show – Inland Cafe, Tamworth
Group Show – Espionage Gallery, Adelaide
Group Show – We Are All Mad Here – Espionage Gallery, Adelaide
Group Show – INK. Tangent Gallery, Detroit
Group Show – The Language of Flowers, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco
Group Show – Surreal World, Auguste Clown Gallery, Melbourne

Exhibitions 2012:
Group Show Fairytales and Fables – Artboy Gallery Melbourne opens March 16.
Group Show The Tattoo Exhibition – The Woods Gallery Newcastle opens May 1.
Group Show Style Riot – The Aztec Gallery Forster Nov 11.
Solo Show – Downstairs Gallery Tamworth

Exhibitions 2011:
Solo Show Rhyme and Reason – 19Karen Artspace,Gold Coast
Love Is Here Book Launch and Exhibition – Rancho Notorious, Melbourne and Ambush Gallery, Sydney
Group Show – Gallery 806, Ballarat
Solo Show – Downstairs Gallery

Exhibitions 2010:
Group Show Ladies First – Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
Solo Show Little Women – Global Gallery, Sydney
Solo Show Berkelouw Books Gallery Space, Sydney

Artist Website: http://www.marielarkin.com.au/

Additional Information