Lori Markman

Artist Statement

I paint in oils and create drawings using pencil, mixed media and collage. My artwork can be either figurative or abstract, or a combination of the two.

I use art to tell stories that are personal and important to me. The stories relate my psychological states my thoughts, feelings, emotions and responses to the people, events and periods in my life. My paintings have dealt with aging, mortality and death; a car accident in which I was seriously injured; the beginning and ending of love affairs, as well as political and social issues.

I seek images that contain within them something of the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and psychological states I want to express. The selected images inspire my artwork, modifying and transforming those images until they express the story I want to tell. Even my abstract work is based on narrative moments.

Biography

Lori Markman is a Los Angeles based artist. She started her art practice at age 15 and has never stopped creating art. She received a BA in Fine Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles, and also received a special award for achievement in art from the University.

From the beginning, Lori Markman's work has been autobiographical: each work a vehicle for expressing an emotion, thought, attitude, philosophy about an event or time period in her life. Her large, intense, powerful, and expressionistic figurative oil paintings have explored themes such as the ageing, mortality and death of her parents; a car accident in which Markman was seriously injured; a colorful, light series which pokes gentle fun at the absurd world of fashion photography; the death of a close friend, and a political series depicting her anger at the cruelty, selfishness, and pure horribleness of the last administration and its supporters.

Since 2003, Lori Markman has been creating a continuing, ever-evolving series of pencil and mixed media collage drawings. Still autobiographical, still personal, still expressive, these generally abstract drawings often incorporate letters, numbers, words, text, as well as some figurative elements. Her latest work is mixed media collage inspired by traditional Japanese landscape art called "Magical Landscapes".

Lori Markman has shown her work since 1997 in solo and small or group shows nationwide. Her solo shows include Space Gallery in New Orleans, Upstairs Gallery in Ventura, California, and Gallery Figuroa in Los Angeles. Her small group shows include the Thatcher Art Gallery at the University of San Francisco, and the RGB Gallery in Los Angeles. She currently is showing workwork at Shockboxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA, at the Annmarie Scupture Garden & Arts Center in Association with The Smithsonian, in Solomuns, MD, and at D'Art Center in Norfolk, Virginia. She is a member of the Los Angeles Art Association. Her work has been purchased for private collections throughout the United States.

Exhibition History (CV)