about

I love to capture the tension between nature’s vulnerability and it’s strength. I am continually surprised by the connections between seemingly unconnected objects through patterns, shape, color and texture…like how a small snail suddenly finds the perfect spot to nestle into the indentation of a jaw bone. How do these shapes complement each other when one originated in the ocean and the other inside a body? I like to marvel at these small wonders and present pieces that are akin to visual poems or haikus that elevate connections between ourselves and nature like the tenuous edge of vulnerability and impermanence we all face. In my view, we are not separate from nature. We are nature.

I grew up combing the beaches and hiking the mountain trails around the Pacific Northwest. These early forays into the wild instilled a curiosity for the often overlooked or forgotten objects in nature. Collections of these found pieces arranged on window sills and table altars, has woven its way into my art making filling drawers of carefully curated objects.

I began formal art classes in drawing during middle school years, graduating from the University of Washington with a BFA in Graphic Design. During that time I studied printmaking and photography and continued after college with classes and private sessions in monotype printing. My various creative and professional paths in print and digital interface design, icon design, printmaking, tile installation and architectural design all inform my current work as a 3D assemblage artist.

In 2011, after a year of deep nature immersion, farming and beekeeping, I began creating assemblages that combined pieces from my growing collection of natural objects and old farming and ancestral artifacts. This opened a whole new world of creativity for me that felt congruent with my life as a farmer and interests in traditional rural and earth-based skills. My curiosity of other cultures and traditional skills, has led me to study basketry, leather work, spinning, felting, traditional myths and fairy tales from cultures around the world, shamanic traditions and my own ancestral roots. All of these skills, materials and old-world knowledge influence my 3D assemblages and the stories they hold.

Today I make my home on Vashon Island in Puget Sound creating a small-scale permaculture-inspired homestead with my family. My studio, in a building shared with my husband who is a ceramic artist, is at the heart of the activity on the land. We strive to elevate art, beauty and consciousness in connection with the landscape that holds and supports us.

~ Renée Marceau, July 2020