Mark Macrides

Mark Macrides has been an art teacher and artist working in the area for the past 33 years. “My work is reflective of moments in time captured and represented with shape and color” states the artist. The larger paintings and triptych pieces use the cross and other imagery from Renaissance painting as a means creating the geometry of the space and interpreting traditional imagery and techniques in a modern and innovative manner.  The size of some of the pieces allows for expansive areas of gradated color and movement through the use of the spherical shapes.  The worlds created are imaginary and dreamlike yet grounded in the reality of known entities such as the sky and the ocean.

Macrides describes his most recent work as an intense journey into the medium of collage. Several pieces form a series of one-hundred collages titled “100 Crosses” are displayed here. Using the iconic image of the cross as a constant in each piece, the work incorporates a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional collage material as a means of creating a diverse representation around a similar theme.  Each piece in the series is a unique interpretation of the image of the cross.   While some pieces focus on the exploration of the materials used, others explore the cross in history. While this series of 100 works is a story of discovery, pushing the medium of collage, within the series are individual stories about materials, color, imagery and history.  Presented with each collage is a written paragraph by the artist describing something about the process, materials, and/or subject of the work.  These short stories connect the series and provide a glimpse into the artist's thought process and ideas about the evolution of the work. Macrides, who has historically worked in oils, was inspired, by a museum visit, to begin working in collage 2 years ago.  He describes his experience with the medium as "liberating" and enjoyed the opportunity it presented to work in shorter durations of time.  As an art teacher of young children, he uses collage in his teaching and was also inspired by the diverse range of materials the children were encouraged to work with in a program that values recycling.   Old maps, window screen, caution tape, bubble wrap, candy wrappers and countless other common materials appear in the series.  "I wanted to create series of work that reflects the materials we come into contact with on a daily basis but in a way that inspires mystery and awe." stated the artist.