Thank you for visiting !
Marcus Studio was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA in 1992, as was I, some years earlier. The intent was simply to have a vehicle through which I could make and sell objects - anything really - that expressed my own understanding and discovery of aesthetic beauty. Over the years, the process of creating has matured by asking better questions, experimenting (playing), finding community, following intuition, and learning more about myself. The resulting products (both fine furniture and art) that Marcus Studio has made and sold since its inception documents the artistic growth that has occurred over that time. This website chronicles some portion of that story which continues today. I am inspired by so many other artists (both past and present), and by observing / expressing small moments of daily life.
My formal education is in the Fine Arts, having graduated Oberlin College in 1978 with a BFA degree in Painting and Printmaking. Since then, I’ve worked professionally as a painter, graphic artist, offset-litho printer, silk screener, cabinet maker, and software engineer, before diving into furniture design and construction. The common thread that weaves all of these disciplines together for me is a passion for “design and composition” and an appreciation for honest beauty, which begins with a blank piece of paper and extends through the entire creative process of crafting a brand new piece.
In 2021, Marcus Studio relocated to a new shop space on the South Side of Pittsburgh, which offers a studio room in which to paint and draw, as well as a fully functioning woodworking shop. Very exciting !! While I no longer accept new custom furniture design requests, this new direction will allow me to devote more of my time and energies toward making and exhibiting fine art as well as fine furniture products that have stood the test of time. Furniture pieces that I've designed and built can be seen on MarcusStudio.com. Please feel free to inquire, purchase and/or engage in dialog about anything you may see on this site.
Statement
My work begins with unpremeditated mark making, and follows a free-form, sometimes chaotic path, until underlying patterns and structures begin to make themselves apparent. I subsequently try to balance and strengthen the graphic forms that emerge. In some ways this part of the process seems akin to the archeologist patiently brushing away the sand and dirt of a buried relic. If the forms that emerge seem either forced or disingenuous in any way, I begin a cycle of knocking them back in a process of controlled reduction. The destructive process always leaves behind hints of what existed previously, and allows a renewed armature on which to further build. This cycle of birth, refinement, and destruction might repeat many times during the life of a painting or drawing, and are reflected in the many opaque and transparent layers (and scars) that comprise the finished work.