Contemporary impressionist Marion uses expressive & deft palette knife work to produce stunningly ethereal art works creating a sense of somewhere fondly remembered. His works on canvas express feelings and sensations, more than actual people and places. It’s an idyllic, dreamy world, that feels softly familiar. Marion explains, “I constantly hear people saying to each other, ‘Oh, doesn’t that remind you of when . . . ’ as they view my work. And it’s a different recollection for everybody, but always a happy one! Really, it’s one of the most gratifying parts of being an artist.”
Whether interpreting lush landscapes, dynamic cityscapes, the human form, or pure abstracts, Bruce Marion’s lyrical coloration and dramatic use of light and shadow lend his forms a distinctive glowing quality, as though they’re illuminated from the soul. Combined with his dynamic knife work, light and texture come together to ignite his works with an energy all their own.
Marion received his BFA from the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he studied with world-renowned artist Pat Nagel, and Lorser Feitelson, the father of Post-Surrealism. He has taught at the Otis Parsons Institute of Art in Los Angeles, as well as privately, and has received several grants to implement month-long art programs for Arizona elementary school students. Marion recently completed a major public commission for the new social sciences and humanities building at Sam Houston State University in Texas. He is a 2013 nominee for the Governors Arts Award for the state of Arizona.
“I don’t so much seek to portray a specific locale, as to capture a sensory memory of it- as though a camera could somehow photograph a space as seen through your emotions, rather than through your eyes.”