Life & Work with Marion Vail

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marion Vail.

Hi Marion, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In high school and college, I created 2D artwork, primarily collages and mixed media works. I’d always been interested in 3D mediums like assemblage and sculpture, but it wasn’t until after my college degree that I decided to try them. My degree is in Mechanical Engineering, and I worked for several years in Product Design, so my technical background has been an influence in the artwork I make now. But beyond the construction, the visuals are mostly based on childhood interests. You can see that in the material used – hot glue, foam, plastics, resin – and in the more literal subject matter – children’s toys, tchotchkes, religious iconography. So, in the end, the journey started way back in my elementary school days.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like many artists, I struggle with the balance of creating work that’s both true to me and salable. Most of my work deals with darker themes. It’s not necessarily something that people want in their living rooms. At the same time, I want to create work that is authentic, unique, and personal. It takes time to develop a practice that can do both.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work in assemblage, which I like to think of as collage in 3D. It’s a compositional exercise exploring the relationships between objects. One of the interesting things about assemblage is that objects take on new meanings when they’re placed in relation to one other. In my pieces, I’m always looking to ride the line between beautiful and disturbing. I achieve that by using items that are generally innocuous in isolation but begin to disturb once they’re brought together. I love working with the unsettling because it’s not a simple feeling; it’s neither good nor bad. It causes people to take a step back to think.

What makes you happy?
With regards to art, I’m happy if I can connect to a person or a feeling that has previously felt isolated. My work is very vulnerable, which can be scary. But I hope that in sharing intimacies, I can provide some company to those who feel similarly. And, hey, maybe inspire them to be vulnerable as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marionvailed/

Image Credits
Headshot: Priscilla Pan Portfolio: John Rinek