Nature and how it’s perceived, is integral to the art of Marney Fuller, a painter and sculptor. Her art references our fleeting environment and the temporality of ecosystems. The paintings are emotive landscapes celebrating the familiar as habitats shift and diminish. Movement, light and time are characteristic of her art. The paintings are layered and gestural. Color describes light and depth which transforms her gestured marks into representation and a timeline of process.
Marney’s sculptures are emblems of nature’s small giants. Most of her outdoor sculptures are made from an assemblage of noble metals; rods, tubing, sheets and wire. The metals are woven, built, and sewn together. Her public installations are reminiscent of huge brooches adorning a wall. In 2023, four large metal assemblage sculptures (each approx. 10×10 ft) were permanently installed on the outside wall of the school building, PS 107, near Prospect Park. The installation is titled, Ecosystem [Rebirth]; a Bumblebee, Spider, Caterpillar and Butterfly. Dragonfly, (approx 10×12 ft), another large assemblage sculpture, permanently hangs from the 1st floor ceiling of the Morris Campus High School in the Bronx. Dandelions, (approx 10×5 ft), was temporarily installed next to the Manhattan Bridge and at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Marney received her MFA from Pratt Institute. Her studio is in DUMBO.
Managing Nature
Nature serves me. I want just enough trees to feel rural but, not to ruin my view. I want roses crawling up my trellis, not the wild vines rooted near my fence. My yard is filled with flowers and shrubs that tell me the seasons. It’s a prepared canvas to show off my love of the land. The racoon wants in. The black bear searches for food in my trash. The deer roam freely and eat the plants I nurtured and coddled. The tract houses replaced the farm. The farm replaced the woods. The frogs no longer croak. The creek no longer exists. My relationship with nature is from the window. Encroachment from me. What is nature and how do I define it?
Marney is also an art educator. In 2007, she started the art school, Art Workshop Experience (AWE). In 2021, she received a National Gold Medal Art Educator Award from Scholastic Art & Writing Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. She’s been a teaching artist and artist-in-residence at under-served schools in NYC in the past years. Through various grants, she produced several public art installations with NYC students.
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