ARTIST STATEMENT
Mike Marks’ prints and drawings speak to the fragility of the landscape and our perception of it. Based on his own experiences, these works address the tension between beauty and the potential for loss that occurs in our relationship with the landscape. His prints approach this by slowing down the pace of image consumption into painstakingly hand-carved woodcuts, while his graphite drawings on the other hand reflect an interest in embracing and magnifying fleeting moments of solitude in nature.
Mike Marks’ prints and drawings speak to the fragility of the landscape and our perception of it. Based on his own experiences, these works address the tension between beauty and the potential for loss that occurs in our relationship with the landscape. His prints approach this by slowing down the pace of image consumption into painstakingly hand-carved woodcuts, while his graphite drawings on the other hand reflect an interest in embracing and magnifying fleeting moments of solitude in nature.
BIO
Mike Marks (b. 1984 | Morgantown, WV) holds a BFA in Drawing from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Delaware. His prints and drawings have shown both nationally and internationally. He currently lives and works out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was a 2020 McKnight Fellow in Printmaking and a 2017/2018 Jerome Foundation Emerging Printmaker in Residence at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking, and was a 2019 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant awardee. His work has been collected by The Walker Center for Art, MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art), the Douros Museum of Art, among others.
Prior to relocating to Minnesota, he was Director of Intaglio for Maine-based printmaking collective Pickwick Independent Press from 2013-2016. Mike has taught printmaking at Haystack Mountain School of Craft (ME), Long Island University (NY), and the University of Delaware (DE). He's also conducted workshops at art-centers in New Mexico, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, and Maine. Mike has been an artist-in-residence at the Tides Institute & Museum of Art (Eastport, ME), Stone Trigger Press (Abiquiu, NM), Crooked Tree Art Center (Petoskey, MI), and Acadia National Park (Mt. Desert Island, ME).
When he's not printing he's usually out backpacking or exploring rivers! Fly rod in hand!!!!
Instagram/Contact :
Mike Marks (b. 1984 | Morgantown, WV) holds a BFA in Drawing from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Delaware. His prints and drawings have shown both nationally and internationally. He currently lives and works out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was a 2020 McKnight Fellow in Printmaking and a 2017/2018 Jerome Foundation Emerging Printmaker in Residence at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking, and was a 2019 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant awardee. His work has been collected by The Walker Center for Art, MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art), the Douros Museum of Art, among others.
Prior to relocating to Minnesota, he was Director of Intaglio for Maine-based printmaking collective Pickwick Independent Press from 2013-2016. Mike has taught printmaking at Haystack Mountain School of Craft (ME), Long Island University (NY), and the University of Delaware (DE). He's also conducted workshops at art-centers in New Mexico, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, and Maine. Mike has been an artist-in-residence at the Tides Institute & Museum of Art (Eastport, ME), Stone Trigger Press (Abiquiu, NM), Crooked Tree Art Center (Petoskey, MI), and Acadia National Park (Mt. Desert Island, ME).
When he's not printing he's usually out backpacking or exploring rivers! Fly rod in hand!!!!
Instagram/Contact :