Bio
Marlena Urban (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist based on Long Island who works in traditional media like drawing, painting, mixed media, printmaking, and sculpture. They recently graduated from CUNY Brooklyn College with an MFA and now work at Suffolk County Community College as an adjunct professor in the Visual Arts department.
Marlena loves teaching art and connecting with creative people to build communities in the art world. They are interested in landscapes, ambiguity, and playfulness in their work. In Marlena’s undergraduate studies, they worked closely with the distinguished professor Howardena Pindell and held their first solo exhibition in Stony Brook’s art gallery (2021). Marlena has also conducted an independent research study with Derrick Adams at Brooklyn College in 2024. Their most recent work in exhibitions includes the 2024 SVA Summer Artist Residency Open Studios, Brooklyn College MFA Thesis Show at Powerhouse Arts, and the Wet Paint Festival Exhibition at The Reboli Center for Art & History in 2023.
Artist Statement
Themes in my work include love, self-discovery, and inner strength. I seek inspiration from my direct experiences and twist them into nuanced abstractions in conceptual and visual ways. Themes in my work include playfulness, imagination, and power. I use figuration and abstraction as tools to interplay with revealing vulnerability about myself. Specificity and broad concepts are interwoven into an ambiguous object that defies reality. In my newest work, I aim to use traditional mediums in non-traditional ways to separate my work from the classical ways traditional mediums have been used for centuries. By doing this, I am creating a safe space for my work to exist with childlike wonder.