Artist Feature: Marcie Oakes

Marcie’s work has been growing on me for a while now – so I figured it was about time to introduce you all to her strange and wonderful paintings.

I find myself completely wrapped up in the environments that she’s found amidst the chaos of the spattered, dragged, and mashed paint.  The painting below is my favorite from her most recent body of work. 

{Cheer Upward – Marcie Oakes – 2012}

For me, this image is haunting and beautiful at the same time.  I keep wanting to personify the elements of this painting, and when I do – it is even creepier.

She describes her work in her statement below:

"My paintings are a representation of slow chaos. With the environments mostly still and controlled, there is an underlying devastation occurring within each piece. With explosions, melting, and spilling throughout the abstract environments I’m portraying an ever-changing world that projects beauty as a direct result of spontaneous destruction.

My practice is based heavily on experimenting with my painting medium, acrylic paint. Each painting starts with a mess of colors smeared, mixed, splattered and then manipulated to represent what the painting implies it is becoming." 

{Falling in Lines - Marcie Oakes}

This painting really got my attention because it feels so grand in scale.  I love the contrast between the gloppy and runny paint, and the structured thin lines that give it such an epic presence.

{Pile Pillar - Marcie Oakes}

This is another example of a painting in which she obscures part of the paint layer below with a flat layer of purple paint.  The end result is stunning – an unknown strange monument emerges from the commotion.  We try to make out the form, but it evades our attempts to envision something concrete. 

{Silk Summer Stuff - Marcie Oakes}

And then there are pieces that are unrelenting.  They explode outwards towards you without giving your eyes a place to rest.  The feel of these paintings are completely different than those where parts of the foreground are tamed or reined in by a flat background color.

For more of Marcie Oakes’ work – please don’t hesitate to check out her website:  MarcieOakes.com 

You won’t be sorry!

-Cassie