Marjorie Sopkin

Artist Statement

Having lived along the Connecticut shoreline all of my life, water is and has always been a primary element and while I have used it in many different ways, it has almost always been present or implied in my work. I am interested in its reflective properties and how things move through it. I often use marks to symbolize living entities – schools of fish – for instance, coexisting in a pretend but pleasant world. Color is paramount for me as are the shapes I create, often used to suggest camaraderie and harmony.

I also make paintings that are NOT landscapes, but focus on color, movement and shape. Mostly, these works are made in times of chaos when the world is in a confusing and emotional state. In times such as these it feels unnatural to paint serenely so my paintings end up resembling a massive conglomerate of intersecting, color-coded freeways, for lack of a more concise description.

I switch back and forth between these two distinct avenues but always in an abstract way, and I work daily on many canvases at once. Oftentimes, if I have mixed a bunch of paint, I will go around the studio looking for appropriate pieces on which it can be used. Acrylics dry quickly so experimentation is easy. I am a fast painter and my work is very deliberate.