Bay Area artist Christie Marks creates gritty mixed media works inspired by everyday life. Her pieces are haunting and emotionally powerful, expressing an intuitive connection to her subject matter. Marks’ images reflect everyday scenes such as a distant fishing boat, a group of crumpled paper bags, weathered lawn chairs, ragged clotheslines, and ramshackle trailers. A sense of melancholy and longing is characteristic of her work.
Marks is inspired by the Depression era photography of artists such as Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Alcott, Walker Evans, and their contemporaries. In the last ten years she has been fortunate to travel internationally in India, Morocco, Spain, Sicily, and Southeast Asia. This has resulted in travel inspired works that can be seen as multi-cultural mosaics enticing the viewer to dream of lifestyles quite different than their own.
A distinct sepia undertone with layered visual texture infuses Marks’ work. Combining drawing, painting, and collage, she produces multiple images and textures on translucent paper. She then layers these images over a base of torn brown paper bags and aged newsprint. Applications of additional paint and a final layer of cold wax results in works with a touchable luminance.
Marks exhibits her work at the Paul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg, California and in exhibitions throughout the United States. Notable shows include Out of Isolation at the Paul Mahder Gallery, the 11th Annual Women Artists Exhibition at the O’Hanlon Center in Mill Valley, California, and the International Exhibition of Contemporary Islamic Art at the Irving Arts Center, Irving, Texas.
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Signs of Life: New Works by Christie Marks. Santa Rosa City Hall Council Chambers, Santa Rosa
2016 Spellbound: Morocco from Photos to Easel. Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.
2015 Torn Asunder. Rosenblum Cellars, Healdsburg, CA.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 The Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition.
Anything Goes, Graton Gallery, Graton, CA.
2021 Go Big or Go Home. JCO’s Art House, Los Gatos, CA.
All About Women. Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA.
Artist Choice. San Francisco Women Artists Gallery (SFWA), San Francisco, CA.
2020 Out of Isolation. Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA.
Darkness and Shadow. O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA.
2019 11th Annual Bay Area Women Artists. O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA.
Memories. San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Textures and Patterns. San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2018 Graton Gallery Invitational. Graton Gallery, Graton, CA.
Windows to Other Worlds. Art Center Morro Bay, Morro Bay, CA.
2017 International Exhibition of Contemporary Islamic Art, Irving Arts Center, Irving, Texas.
The National Arts Program Exhibition. Santa Rosa, CA.
Mostly Monochrome, Ice House Gallery, Petaluma, CA.
2015 The Left Coast, Marin Society of Artists, Ross, CA., 3rd Place Award.
Peoples, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.
2014 Play It Again Sam, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.
Publications
2021 Artists of the Bay Area Volume 2. Produced and published by the Jen Tough Gallery, Santa
Fe, New Mexico.
2021 Wild Lands. Produced and published by the Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
2021 Featured Artist, Christie Marks. Virtually published by Artsy Shark.
Residencies
2023 Green Olive Arts Residency, Tetouan, Morocco.
2020 Chalk Hill Artist Residency, Healdsburg, CA.
Open Studios
2016 – 2022 Art Trails, Juried Open Studios, Sonoma County, CA.
Art Fairs
2019 Art Santa Fe. (Guest Artist of the Jen Tough Gallery), Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Galleries
2018 – 2022 Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA.
2017 – 2019 Resident Artist, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, CA.
2016 – 2017 Fulton Crossing Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA.
Community
2014 – 2018 Art in Public Places Committee, City of Santa Rosa, CA.
Education
2001 Bachelor of Arts. California State University Fresno.
