ON VIEW
April 22 – 29
+ May 12 – 20

EXHIBITION OPENINGS
Friday, April 21, 5 – 7 pm
+ Thursday, May 11, 5 – 7 pm


Marlena Faxon


Marlena Faxon is an MFA candidate at MECA&D in Portland, ME. She is the board president of Yarmouth Arts Alliance, a non-profit organization bringing the community together through the arts. Marlena graduated from Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, in 1992 and earned a Certificate in Graphic Design from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA, in 1998. After working as a graphic designer for several years, she stepped away from the computer and started to paint. Marlena lives in Maine with her husband, where they raised two children. She is an avid open-water swimmer and supporter of local environmental groups.


Landscape Body:
An expanded field of landscape painting with a mix of materials and processes to reconnect humanity with nature and self with one's local place is vital to our well-being and the health of our environment. Landscape painting in forms and processes that bind our bodies with nature from the microscopic to the grand reflects scientific research that breaks down barriers between fields of biological sciences and reveals the complicated web between humans and other living and non-living things. Discoveries in psychology and the new field of Neuroaesthetics confirm art and landscape painting's vital role in our well-being. These discoveries show that being in nature as well as looking at a landscape painting or object of inspired beauty reduces anxiety and depression by producing the sensation of awe–profound and unexplainable feelings, and can move people to make decisions that promote survival and affect one's happiness. Reconnecting humanity to nature and self to local place with expanded forms of landscape painting affirming our intricate biological connections and stimulating sensations of awe, improves our mental and physical well-being and the health of our communities and environment.



 

The MFA Thesis Exhibitions for the Class of 2023 are interdisciplinary shows that incorporate a range of making practices unified by the overwhelming concerns these students have for their environment, their communities, their families, and their own well-being. With an emphasis on the personal, and at times the anecdotal, these 21 artists make a variety of contributions in the form of ceramics, garments, furniture, installations, paintings, photographs, poems, prints, sculptures, and videos. The nature of their work and research demonstrates the caliber and cultural relevance of our program.











Institute of Contemporary Art
at Maine College of Art & Design
522 Congress St.Portland, ME 04101

Gallery Hours:
Wed–Sun, 11:00am–5:00pm,
Thursday, 11:00am–7:00pm