Thus, the artist Anne Marie Price (California) tells MuseumWeek Magazine about the beginning of her passion for art, but above all one of the oldest ever: mosaic.
And then she adds: “To be able to tell a story through texture and materials is just very satisfying to me and I’m very influenced by what environment I happen to be in at a moment”.
The origins of this refined technique, with such unique aesthetic research, date back to around the 4th century BC. to the ancient artistic forms widespread in Asia Minor, in Mesopotamia, and therefore in the Roman and Greek world; colored tiles mostly made of shells, glass and stones form plots of stories that tell scenes of ordinary, daily life, such as those of a hunt, of a landscape, sometimes defined with gold and precious stones.
Price, on the other hand, immerses herself in the places where she lives where she draws energy and strength, especially through the sea to create her great works made not of colored ceramic as is customary today but uses the debris of the Ocean such as shells, glass and unfortunately also plastic to define especially women’s faces and landscapes.
The artist therefore uses her sustainable artistic production as a denunciation of the environmental crisis.
Therefore, unfortunately also plastic and so each work becomes a sort of complaint to draw attention to the environmental emergency. Was this point a coincidence or was it a choice for sustainability?
It was very intentional when I began to create temporary mosaics on the beach using the plastics I collected there. I had been using broken-up shells you naturally find there and noticed after a while how much trash was also on the beaches I would visit.
I also noticed how easily it seemed to be for people to simply walk past it and ignore that it was there. I had a hard time ignoring it and on a regular picked it up to dispose of it while finding shells for my shell mosaic art.
Because I gathered so much attention with my shell mosaics..one day I thought well maybe I can make a mosaic using plastics and trash found on the beach..maybe then people will begin to notice if I make art with it and they won’t just walk past it anymore. It worked.
I began to receive feedback that while it was creative what I was making with it… also sad how much there was available to use in my creations. Finally, people were seeing it for what it was through art.
What materials do you prefer? Why?
I prefer working with stained glass first and foremost but I could use any materials and love the challenge of working and creating with whatever I find. Since I was a little girl, I was mesmerized by big stained glass windows in an old church and it’s really where the stained glass love began.
I just love everything about it… color, textures, and smoothness of the pieces. It’s just been a from day one attraction for me and just makes sense I would later use it in my art as an artist.
Continue on MuseumWeek Magazine.