Contributed by Marlene Siff
Famed visionary artist, Marlene Siff, of Westport, understands her contemporary, abstract and expressionist work, which has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, as a means of giving form to states of mind.
“I am concerned with communicating a sense of harmony, balance, order and spirituality,” explained Siff. “We are all confronted on a daily basis with the fragmentation of our non-linear lives, trying, as in a puzzle, to make the pieces fit together to make sense of it all. My paintings, works on paper, and sculpture depict imagery of personal events and psychological issues. They are expressed through geometric shapes, color, light, space, texture, edges and movement, each interplaying with one another engaging the viewer to participate.”
Accolades
Siff’s accolades outnumber even her pages’ long resume, too many to list, here are a few examples; Siff’s work has been exhibited at the Connecticut Public Television Gallery, the Thomas J Walsh Art Gallery at Fairfield University, Galerie Musee’ in Nagoya, Japan, Embler Art Gallery Fine Art for Airline Clubs Worldwide, in the permanent collection of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, DC and the Artists Registry at the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
“I recently embarked on a series of white paintings that abandon my signature bold palette. These paintings from the ‘Elements of Peace’ series pay homage to people who have been affected by war. White is soft, quiet, spiritual, unadorned and is full of infinite possibilities. My intention is to create an architectural space for rest, retreat, connection, reflection and identification.”
Siff’s assemblage ‘Fallen Heroes/Afghanistan’ hangs in the office of Ct Congressman Jim Himes in the Capital Building in Washington D.C. Himes chose this upon its completion in 2010.
Siff’s painting ‘Neo Gothic’ was accepted into the worldwide competition ‘Art Takes Time Square 2012’ where it was viewed by thousands of people. She was also one of 27 chosen artists by Janne Siren (Director of the Albright-Knox Gallery) to exhibit at Chautauqua’s 56th annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art.
New Music works (on right)
Elements of Peace works (white on left)
Elements of Peace works (white on left)
Commissioned works
Siff’s work has been commissioned by many corporations, including J.C.Penny, J.P.Stevens and the Easter Seal Foundation and hangs in numerous corporate and private collections. “My gift art set was enormously successful (in the mid 70’s for J.C.Penny Co.). My linens were the largest selling pattern in the history of the company at that time – Tailored Elegance and Summer Fantasy – sold in the J.C.Penny catalogue. As a result, they asked me to do a collection of more than 20 different products for the kitchen.”
Catalogue Raisonne’
Siff published a book of her works, which is available for purchase, and has been placed in the personal library of Glen Lowry, Director of the MOMA, and is also in the libraries of The Whitney Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and more.
What’s next?
Siff’s new body of work is a celebration of the #7 and is based on music called ‘7 Finely Tuned’ and will include 7 very large pieces of work based on musical terms such as – staccato, crescendo, fanfare and others. “I studied the piano for many years when I was young and have always listened to classical music. Music is color, so these will be in color. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish a lot while furthering your dreams.” Bravo Marlene! www.marlenesiff.com.
Photos by Kendra Wingate
