Profile Pictures & Other Works
Artist Marlys Mandaville creates colorful paintings that make intangible and isolated moments of emotion visible. Her work allows us to access the non-space between the virtual and physical worlds, a place where, in our day-to-day lives, we seem to find ourselves caught now more often than not. Below is a selection of her work from four different series.
Profile Pictures questions the meaning of “connection” within the era of social media. Just as we form, build, and brand our social media profiles, the artist carefully pieces together and constructs abstract figures. In this way they are all the same, yet they exist apart in isolation. These figures are colorful, direct, and accessible – but exist apart, isolated. Marlys questions the meaning of presence: how much of our identity is grounded in physical vs. virtual space?
ECE Caregivers - As a preschool teacher, Marlys is interested in profiling and interviewing caregivers within the early childhood education (ECE) community. Each seated portrait of a teacher pairs with their edited interview.
In Preservation Marlys combines two series of paintings – “Timeline” and “While They’re Still Here”– to discuss how the internet and social media distance us from our physical environment. As we transfer more of our lives and personhoods online, we effectively remove them from their physical surroundings.
Other portraits from the Localizing Climate Change series which was part of Marlys’ Senior Art Capstone in 2015.
See more of Marlys’ work by checking her out on Instagram or by visiting her website.
Contributor
Marlys Mandaville
Marlys Mandaville received dual degrees in Studio Art and Environmental Studies (Sustainable Design focus) from Macalester College (2015) in St. Paul, MN. Her work examines how how we build community in the era of climate change and the internet, both of which, she proposes, lead to disconnection from our physical environments.