Artist's Statement
My background is in Philosophy, and that discipline informs my artwork. Making art for me is always an exploration, a personal search for clarity, truth and meaning.
Visual art has been called a “waking dream”. It is generally accepted that dream images represent multiple aspects of self. Consistent with that premise, much of my work is - directly or metaphorically - portraiture.
I arrange the imagery to create a complex, sympathetic portrait of my subject which has implications for
human nature in general.
My approach is archaeological. For a drawing, I dig into my subject’s personal history, uncovering fantasies, failures, secrets, and prevailing family mythology. This involves peeling back layers from an often veiled core, and I layer the media I use accordingly.
Charcoal drawings usually start with an ink foundation setting out details of personal history and emotional memory, captured in genealogical charts, song lyrics, maps, dream imagery and fragments of conversation. The charcoal layer is drawn on top of that, accidentally revealing fragments of what underlies it. Frequently
I superimpose pastel text as a third layer.
I enjoy experimenting with various media and technological tools; I often incorporate digital techniques with drawings and printmaking to create mixed media pieces. Recently I came up with a “ character” to represent myself, which allows me to combine these techniques for storytelling purposes.
Assemblage as an art form is fun to do. I enjoy “rescuing” found objects for use in three-dimensional pieces. But these works are also layered; objects - both found and made - exhibit a seductive surface whimsy which masks a deeper and more complex story.
I am a trained graphic designer, and particularly enjoy applying graphics skills to projects undertaken by organizations whose goals interest me.
Art making is for the most part a solitary activity. As a break from the solitude, I engage in collaborative work when opportunities arise. I collaborate with sculptor and partner Bill Friesen, with him and Joe Rosenblatt as the Eastside Group, and with other artists to create “pop-up” shows in the area.
Exhibition History
2022
Four person show, Strangers, with Ed Varney, Jeff Hartbower, Bill Friesen, Weird Church, Cumberland BC
Four person show, Challenging Mortality, with Hartbower, Friesen, Varney, Artful Gallery, Courtenay BC
2020
Online exhibition, The Pandemic is a Portal, curator Anna Banana, Simon Fraser University project, Vancouver
Illustration in Dada, by Ed Varney, publisher, the Dada Institute
Mail Art: Mailmania 6, curator Dale Roberts;
Light, Camera, Action, Museu Quinta da Cruz, Viseu, Portugal (Mailart Exhibition)
2019
Publication: Canadian Bestiary, a Sculptural Book, by Bill Friesen, Marci Katz and Ed Varney, Publ: Museo Internaçional de Neu Art, Royston, BC
Publication: My Life Story, by Marci Katz, Publ: Marci Katz Fine Art & Design, Deep Bay, BC
2018
Marci Katz, Artthink Storytelling Workshop, for Youth Media Project, CVAG, Courtenay BC
Group pop-up show, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dove Creek Hall, Courtenay BC
Publication: booklet, the Twisted Psyche of a Living Icon, Publ: Marci Katz Fine Art & Design, Deep Bay, BC
2017
Group show, the Sublime Ms. Ms, Sid Williams Theatre, Courtenay BC
Marci Katz, Artthink Storytelling Workshop, for Youth Media Project, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC Group exhibition, The Basement Show: Views From the Edge, curator, Martha Jablonski-Jones, Courtenay BC
Group exhibition, Image to Text to Image, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC
Group exhibition, The Berwick Garry Oak Exhibition, curator Jeff Hartbower, Comox, BC
Group exhibition, Psychedelia, the Martin Batchelor Gallery, Victoria BC
Mail Art: edition of 12 self-portrait ATCs, curator Dale Roberts/Mailarta
2016
Marci Katz, Artthink Storytelling Workshop for Youth Media Project, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC
Mail art shows: Dada Centenial: Day of the Dead, International Museum of Collage, Assemblage &
Construction, Santa Fe, NM, USA; Transfer, curator Victor Valqui Vidal, shows at the Hungarian National Museum, Esztergom, Hungary, and at the Under the Gaze of King Minos Festival, Heraklion, Crete.
Art By The Beach: a Celebration of Drawing, nine person exhibition, Qualicum Beach BC
Reader, TS Eliot’s Four Quartets, director Ed Varney, Red Tree Coffee House, Courtenay BC
A Mechanical Show, curator Bill Friesen, the Gatehouse Gallery, Cumberland, BC
2015
Curator and participant, Existential Elders, touring 16-person show, TOSH gallery, Qualicum Beach BC
Graphic Designer, Walking With Our Sisters, Memorial Installation, K’ómoks First Nation, Courtenay BC
Mail Art: A Celebration of Mail Art, Passing the Flame, curator James Felter, Victoria BC;
2014
Curator and participant, Existential Elders, touring 16-person show; Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo BC
Curator and participant, Existential Elders, touring 16-person show, MAS, VIUniversity, Powell River.
Group show, Animals in our Humanscape, McMillan Arts Centre, Parksville BC.
Group show, Art at the Beach, Rosenblatt residence, Qualicum Beach, BC
Group show, Hanging by a Thread, CVAG, Courtenay BC
Mail Art shows: Dame's Portrait Gallery 2014, curator Mailarta/Dale Roberts; Welcome to Montana, curator
Fluxus MT; Angels & Demons, 5B Mailart, Germany; Rainbow, curator Dale Roberts;
2013
Group show, Towards Grace, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay
Group show, Love and Monsters, curator: Ken Flett, Rebekah Hall, Bear River, Nova Scotia
Mail art shows: the End of the World, dudugomes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Deer, curator Andreas Kuntner, Austria; The Artist at Work / a Self Portrait, Curator: Ed Varney, Nanaimo Art Gallery; COMA: the Bull, Man & the Myth, curator Helder Coelho Dias, Portugal; International Bird Art Day #2, curator Bill Thompson; Building a Village, curator Pam Hall; I'll Draw You If You Draw Me, curator Mailarta/Dale Roberts; Dame's Portrait Gallery 2013, curator Mailarta/Dale Roberts.
2012
Experimental Drawing Project 2; Rhinoceros, curators P. Edwards/J. Bowley, UK.
Eastside Group show; Angels and Demons, Artfitterz Gallery, Nanaimo BC
Eastside Group; Midsummer Exhibition, Godfrey-Brownell Vineyards, Duncan, BC
Co-curator (w B. Friesen) Jeff Hartbower solo Mayworks show: "Wheelies and Other Things We Have Become”, Gordon Ross Studios, Tintown, Courtenay, BCIllustration; Blackbird Ten, the Blackbird Institute, dir: David StoneMail Art shows; Quarter, curator Whong In Young, S Korea; Hard Work,curator E. Varney, Mayworks '12 Mail Art show, Courtenay BC; These Hands, curator Christine Tarantino, Wendell, Maine; Decentralized Networker Congress 2012, 20th anniversary show.
2011
Collaboration (multi-media, with B Friesen); The Boxing Match, CVAG, Courtenay BC
Co-Curator (w B. Friesen); The Art of Work, Gordon Ross Studios, Courtenay BC.
Group show; CVAG Juried Members Show 2011, CVAG, Courtenay
Mail Art exhibitions: George Maciunas & Beyond, K. Buchholz curator, Kaunas Biennia
Lithuania; Work, Work, Work, curator E. Varney, Mayworks '11, Courtenay;
Fluxface in Space, C. Touchon curator, NASA & Fluxmuseum collaboration, Fort Worth, Texas
2010 Group show; The Shoe Show, Random Design Studio,Tin Town, Courtenay, BCGroup Project; Art
Detox 2010, Anna Banana curator, SCAC, Sechelt, BC.
Group show; Junkyard, Cowichan Valley Art Ctre, Duncan BC.
Mail Art exhibitions: Mail Art Olympix, E. Varney curator, CVAG, Courtenay; Self Portraits, E. Silva curator,
Caracas, Venezuala
2009
Co-curator (w Ed Varney) and participant; Alternative Identities, 9-person Art Groupo show, Evergreen
Cultural Centre, Coquitlam, BC
Co-curator (w Bill Friesen) and participant; Poverty in Canada, Mayworks Festival group exhibition,
Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Mail Art exhibitions: Evolution, Accademia d’Arte, Pisa, Italy; Mailmania 3, Vancouver Island
School of Art, Victoria, BC; Mailarta’s Portrait Palace, Victoria, BC; Self Portraits,
Convocatoria Arte Correo, Caracas, Venezuela; Mail Art Olympix, CVAG, Courtenay, BC
Guest artist; The Bicycle Review, Issue #2, August 20, 2009.
Group show; Spinal Tap, Tin Town, Courtenay, BC
Group Assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2008
Solo exhibition (assemblage); Suspended Rumination, Oceanside Gallery,
Parksville, BC
Co-curator (w Bill Friesen); Water and the Human Condition, Mayworks Festival
group exhibition, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group show; Merkins and Codpieces, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC
Mail Art exhibition; Revolution, Evolution and Devolution, Mayworks Festival
Exhibition, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group Assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville BC
2007
Co-curator (with Bill Friesen); Making a Living, Mayworks Festival group exhibition,
Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Mail Art exhibition; Put Yourself on the Map, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna, BC
International Mail Art exhibition; Folklore, Millennium bcp Club, Ovar, Portugal
Mail Art exhibition; Work, Work, Work, Mayworks Festival exhibition, Oceanside
Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group Assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2006
Eastside Group exhibition; Mythic Archipelago, Sandstone Studio Gallery Summer
Exhibition, Gabriola Island, BC
Co-curator (w Bill Friesen); Working Without a Net, Mayworks Festival group
exhibition, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group show; ATC exhibition; Mayworks Festival show, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Mail Art exhibition; The Sea/Fishermen, Millenium bcp Club, Ovar, Portugal
2005
Solo show; Mixed Messages, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, BC
Group exhibition; Fran Willis Gallery Closing Show, Victoria, BC
Juror; Comox Valley Community Arts Council, Comox, BC
Group show; The Art of Work, first Mayworks Festival exhibition, Oceanside Gallery,
Parksville, BC
Co-curator (w Bill Friesen); The Art of Work, Mayworks Festival exhibition,
Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group show; Self Portraits, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
ATC show; Artists’ Trading Card Exhibit, Blackberry Gallery, Port Moody, BC
2004
Installation (w Bill Friesen); Dance of the Damned, Xchanges Gallery, Victoria, BC
Installation (w Bill Friesen); Dance of the Damned, Errington Hall, Errington, BC
Eastside Group exhibition; Mythic Archipelago, Maltwood Gallery, University of
Victoria, Victoria, BC
Eastside Group exhbition; Mythic Archipelago, Amelia Douglas Gallery, Douglas
College, New Westminster, BC
Eastside Group exhibition; Imaginary Friends, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC
Group show; Roots/Routes, Rollin Art Centre, Port Alberni, BC
Group assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2003
Solo show; Drawing Close to the Bone, Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt, BC
Solo show; Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries (and other fairy tales); Xchanges
Gallery, Victoria, BC
Eastside Group exhibition; Imaginary Friends, Qualicum Frameworks, Qualicum
Beach BC
Eastside Group exhibition; Imaginary Friends, Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery,
Vancouver, BC
ATC show; BC Artists’ ATC Exhibit, Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt, BC
Group assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2002
Solo exhibition; Debris or Not Debris? Rollin Arts Centre, Port Alberni, BC
Group assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2001
Eastside Group exhibition; The Bird Show, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
Group show; Beaux Arts; Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, JCC, Vancouver, BC
Group assemblage show; We Are Assembled, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
2000
Solo show; Debris or Not Debris? Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, BC
1999
Filberg Festival; Juried Group exhibition, Mobiles, Comox, BC
1997
BC Regional group exhibition; Images and Objects XV, Kamloops, BC
1996
BC Regional group exhibition; Images and Objects XIV, Penticton, BC