Check Out Marleigh Culver’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marleigh Culver.

Hi Marleigh, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia to two young parents from different cultures. Coming from a background of Thai and Scottish immigrant grandmothers, I have always been intrigued by everything the world has to offer through food, rituals and presentation. Art became my first true love along with music, two mediums that have always found me where I needed them most. I was always encouraged by my family to be expressive in my personal style and interests, and so creativity has been the driving force through my life. My world has always felt vibrant and exciting, I’m constantly lost in thought or scheming of new compositions and ideas. I went to an arts high school which dominated my teenage experience, I learned everything from welding to medium-format photography, always with an interest mixing mediums and how to express in the purest way possible. I went to college to study graphic design because it felt for me, the perfect combination of creativity and a steady career in the future. Through that time, I got more involved in things I love like fashion and collaborating on magazines with fellow students. I’ve worked as a designer since 2012 and slowly wove art back into my life through painting. Around 2015, I made a Tumblr account to play with digital work through abstract illustration to offload some creative frustration while working a job, this grew into an obsession with expressing through non-verbal communication and organic forms. I found my calling through abstract art, something I had always been attracted to since I was a child, and found it to be the truest way to express myself internally.

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?
It’s always been important to me to work, I came from a working-class family and watched how hard my parents have worked, and still do today, to create a stable life and future for themselves. As a dreamer, I’ve sacrificed and gone down different paths than my family to explore life in a way that speaks most to me. Financial stability is hard to learn and accept when you want to see the world and travel, but then having that stability gives you easier times and room to fail and experiment in art without so much stress. Comparison is always a struggle, but everyone comes from a range of backgrounds and assistance that it’s impossible and unhealthy and even unfair to hold yourself to others’ standards. Imposter syndrome is also a dulling experience, I don’t find myself very worthy at times to make work, and it’s not until people tell me how much they resonate with my work and truly feel things from it that it motivates me and gives me the confidence to pursue my own route. I’m truly trying to find the balance of working a job for stability, especially in the future, and creating my work on my own terms.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m at the root, an artist. I may not always have an output that matches my level of vision and wants for a beautiful world, but through my abstract work that gives me control to express freedom. It sounds so backward, but what speaks to me is that my purity in expression through that abstract work is untouchable and unlike any other way I can exist in this world. I love color and form, when I’m making forms, although they make look simple and childish to any eye untrained or not, each small turn or curve in the form is saying something. Looking at a final piece doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, the process is the story, although I keep that private because it feels sacred to me to work in the way that I do. Color is so emotive to me because it’s a call and response to that moment in time. I mix all my colors by hand and work with them until they run out and I move onto new palettes. I go with the flow, I follow my gut and do what feels the most unique to me. I’m really proud of how much I have done and put myself out there. I’ve worked full-time jobs, freelanced and painted on the side, I’ve done a lot to show how serious I am about my passion of art. I hope that my work always comes off as me, I never want to make anything that feels too similar to anyone else because I believe in who I truly am.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marleighculver.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marleighculver/

Image Credits
Photography Erik Melvin and Kate Berry