With her brightening palette, associated to her perfect technics, Marion Peck seems to be the heiresses of Italian Renaissance painting. Sharing her life, style and inspiration with Mark Ryden, one can see the influence on their respective work they have had on each other while preserving their own identity.
Marion Peck?s painting is an invitation to the borders of a dream which could also be described as a more grounded form of surrealism, infused with a new countercultural pop tone. Her latest artworks are full of fantasy, dreamed landscapes inhabited by circus creatures, fluffy characters or noble ladies. Marion recently stated: ?If there is a narrative to emerge from my paintings, I hope it would be just like a very short poem. I imagine my characters as ones speaking slowly, carefully and quietly, not hiding their hesitations or even stumbling. Their awkwardness is, to me, a part of their personalities?.
Can you share with us a little more about your own artistic influences and beginnings?
I grew up in Seattle, Washington, in a family that was very supportive of my art. I went to the Rhode Island School of Design. When I graduated, I won a prize that I used to travel in Europe for several months. I spent most of my time in Italy, and fell in love with the country. I returned there for graduate studies and ended up staying there for a couple of years. I feel that time in Italy really influenced me and my art, developing my dual nature of old/new, high/low.
What would be your definition of painting?
Painting is applying pigment to a flat surface. But just because that?s what it is, it doesn?t have to be only that, just like speech is made of noises and sounds, but it isn?t only that.
I am unafraid of the idea of a painting being a precious object that someone takes home and hangs on their wall and looks at and hope-fully enjoys. Some people seem to think that?s a bad thing, but not me.
You are considered as one of the leaders of Pop Surrealism art, could you explain what this movement represents for you?
I guess what the many different strains of art that are grouped together as ?Lowbrow? have in common is that they rebel against art which emphasizes the intellectual, conceptual, academic, elitist side of things, instead engaging more directly with imagination and popular culture.
Using oil painting is quite a choice technically speaking, why do you favor this media?
Once you learn to use oil, you never want to go back to that plastic stuff. Oil is so much richer and more versatile than any other kind of paint. And it?s really not that hard to use.
Your world is full of fantastic characters, where do you feed you inspiration?
A lot of things come from my dreams, but other things just pop in suddenly from all kinds of random places. You just never know. I try to keep my imagination well fed with lots of images of all kinds. And I love going to the flea market, I see lots of things that inspire me there.
Does each of your painting carry a story? Do you characters have something to tell us about our society?
My paintings all have stories, which I hope are different for everyone who sees them. I don?t decide about the ?meaning? of my paintings. That is for the viewer to do if they so wish, not the artist.
I am really not hung up on art as a critic of society. That is one thing art does sometimes, but it doesn?t have to do that to be good art. Art can also be about beauty, imagination, fun, pleasure. It?s okay, it?s alright for art to give us enjoyment and allow us to relax and contemplate. We have so few places like that in modern life.
What makes your paintings so special?
I hope what makes them special is that I put myself into them. I often feel like instead of a painting style, I have a mental illness, and I cannot stop polishing and perfecting an image until I feel I can do no more to improve it. It can be very exhausting.
What would you like people to feel in front of one of your paintings?
I hope they feel even a tiny twinge of dream like feeling, of magic. Pleasure mixed with strangeness.
Who is your favorite painter?
If I had to name just one, maybe Albrecht Durer.
Do other media or artistic form influence you? If so, what type?
I love the films of Miyazaki. I love old style 3-d animation, like the films of George Pal. I look at a lot of photography, especially old photography. I love old things in general, I guess.
Could you give us some tips for keeping this open-minded statement and this curiosity you have?
I remember once I was watching this art critic speak, this intellectual snob who was making me want to vomit with his incessant blabber, and then suddenly it occurred to me that he was just a human being who wanted to be loved, like me and like everybody else. And suddenly I didn?t have to hate him anymore, and I could accept his point of view as being just that, his point of view. That is the power of compassion, it helps you to see so much more, instead of keeping your ego busy battling with what ?they? think.
