PROFILE OF A MASTER
The Art and Vision of Lorna Marsh

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​Lorna Marsh was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1949. It was there that she began her formal    training, which included private studio instruction with professors from the London Royal Academy of Art. Marsh later concluded her education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Initially, Marsh was exposed to traditional master painters of the English landscape, Constable and Gainesborough. However, the artists who had the most profound impact on Marsh's work, were the modern masters Motherwell, Twombly and Tàpies. While Marsh's artistic vision may be grounded in her classical training and her esteem for twentieth century visionaries, she has evolved a unique style that transcends standard interpretative mechanisms.

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​Marsh is a figurative expressionist who blends symbolism, surrealism, and expressionism to create fresh images, which reflect upon the human condition. Her images are timeless. That is, they defy the viewer's cultural, philosophical and political constructs and command a new language for interpretation. The viewer must relinquish his or her conditioning in order to decipher Marsh's vision. By demanding that the viewer approach her art unfettered by social mores, Marsh appeals to the universal language of human beings.

​Marsh achieves her vision not only through the images she creates but also through her mastery of media. It is because of her classical discipline that Marsh possesses the prowess to manipulate her materials. Her hands wield the paints, which shape her images and are themselves the tools for application; nothing lies between Marsh and her surface. Consequently, Marsh's surfaces are layered - infused with abstruse images, which invite the viewer to form both emotional and intellectual connections with her work.

Currently residing in the United States, Marsh has exhibited in numerous international one-person and group shows. Marsh has had important solo shows at the Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art, Miami, Florida, the Jacobo Borges Museum, Caracas, Venezuela, the Real Monastery of Santa Maria de la Valldigna Fundació Jaume II el Just, Valencia, Spain, the João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, the Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, the Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China, among many others. As of 2000, she is permanently represented by the Aldo Castillo Gallery.

Western Dress V, 2013, Mixed Media on Canvas, 78 x 83 in.

​Currently residing in the United States, Marsh has exhibited in numerous international one-person and group shows. Marsh has had important solo shows at the Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art, Miami, Florida, the Jacobo Borges Museum, Caracas, Venezuela, the Real Monastery of Santa Maria de la Valldigna Fundació Jaume II el Just, Valencia, Spain, the João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, the Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, the Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China, among many others. As of 2000, she is permanently represented by the Aldo Castillo Gallery.
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Western Dress IV, Mixed Media on Wood, 84 x 48 In.