Altering First Impressions
Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #WCW title belongs to Veronica Marshall who creates art pieces including self-portraits in hopes of articulating how humans judge one another while also playing optical allusions on people.
Marshall, 26, was born and raised in Torrance, CA. Upon graduating from North Torrance High School in 2007, she studied at El Camino Community College and Otis College of Art and Design.
Marshall grew an immense passion for art through various extracurricular art programs she was involved in at the age of 10. However, in high school, she was encouraged and inspired by her art teacher to pursue Fine Arts as a career.
“The decision to be a fine artist was cemented while taking art classes at El Camino Community College. I was inspired, intrigued and excited by the work of my fellow art students and teachers,” she says.
Marshall’s role as an artist is to visually engage the viewer to create dialogue and visual pleasure. “Physically I create primarily in my studio, although sometimes my concepts may take me to different locations. The concepts come to me through my life experiences,” she says.
She has found that she is fascinated by the interaction of people and the concepts of the hidden self and how first impressions are often misleading and one dimensional. She explains that this finding has greatly influenced her figurative work. “My abstract work is more influenced by color, fluidity and texture,” she says.
She is inspired to create by a variety of materials, media and experiences. She finds Jay DeFeo and Cindy Sherman who are artists inspirational.
When she is not creating art, she enjoys going to the movies, exhibits, reading and spend time with friends and family.
She enjoys paying it forward to the community by participating in multiple art shows where the proceeds of the work are donated to the homeless shelters in Los Angles. In addition, she donated work in 2011 to a show were the proceeds went to help the Japanese after the earthquake.
In five years, Marshall hopes to have a successful career as a fine artist and having finished her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts and Art History. She would like people to know that a career as an artist is not easy and it truly has to be your passion.
Thank you Veronica for using your passion for art as a way to give back to the the community and reminding us that our first impressions may not always be accurate.
To see more of Veronica’s pieces, please visit her website here.
“I truly believe that without art there is no life”
– Veronica Marshall