Marite Norris

Marite Norris
Scarborough, Western Australia, Australia

STATEMENT

Transforming an image, giving it new life and a new story is appealing to an artist experienced in the art of rebuilding the broken. My work is deeply informed by my experiences and the world around me. My artistic practice has been integral in providing some semblance of healing after the cataclysmic loss of Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin, my three eldest children in 2014.

Carefully considering all the components with which I collage, and, with intent, cutting, dissecting, disassembling and reassembling, I demonstrate that in the process of rebuilding life, something new can emerge–perhaps with velvety fragments and a sombre elegance, links to distant memories you might find tucked away in the shadowy corners of your heart.

In merging elements sourced from “real world” materials–vintage scientific illustrations, old photographs and theatre posters, I create combinations that trigger imaginings and dreams. A devotee of antique photographs, once-beautiful objects and flea market finds, I’m fascinated by images and rely on the surrealist use of irrational juxtaposition and on the evocation of nostalgia to transport.

Whether it be to a grandparent’s attic of dusty old tin toys and music posters from the sixties, or the rundown London flat with retro wallpaper, the repeated motifs of body parts, eyes, serpents and bones in my work create a portal to unexplored spaces–physical, mental and otherwise. I contrast the blooming and flourishing of life with the stillness of death, finding a balance between light and gloom.

BIO

Marite Norris is an Australian interdisciplinary artist. Her work situates itself around worldly grief and the realms that lie beyond it and is primarily collage and painting. Marite’s work interrogates the human capacity to endure and is informed by intense trauma but not defined by it, fundamentally rooted in creating a sense joy for all who encounter it.

Marite has held solo exhibitions in various galleries and venues in Perth, as well as the Amelia Johnson Gallery in Central, Hong Kong and Little Creatures in Fremantle. She has contributed artwork to group exhibitions at West End Art Space in Melbourne, Painted Tree Gallery in Northcliffe, and the Cullity Gallery at UWA. Her work is held in private collections on the east and west coast of Australia, The Netherlands, England, Norway, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

Marite is the founding director of a unique and innovative community arts hub, The Art Space Collective in Scarborough, established in 2014. Through this platform, she has been the initiator of multiple artistic projects–exhibitions, workshops, music gigs and public art activations in collaboration with local and state government. Her recent solo exhibitions “Colour Warp” (2021) and “Get Pasted” (2022) held at The Art Space Collective, have been in collaboration with FRINGE WORLD, Perth, and each received weekly Visual Arts & Film Awards.

She has been shortlisted for various awards, including the Iris Award for Photographic Portraiture in 2007, the Erotic Art Prize in 2007; has had her poetry published in the literary magazine, Westerly (2020); and has been shortlisted for the City of Stirling Art Award.

Marite holds a Bachelor of Arts (English) and a Bachelor of Design (Fine Arts) from The University of Western Australia.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.maritenorris.com

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