Berman Museum

Sarah Marchione, Genesis, 2021. Oil on canvas.  18 x 18 inches.
Sarah Marchione, Genesis, 2021. Oil on canvas.  18 x 18 inches.

Sarah Marchione

Sarah Marchione’s artwork was chosen by Myrin Library as the newest addition to the Myrin Library Student Art Collection.

Artist Statement

As both a physics and art student, I think there are important parallels between the visual and conceptual. The way we choose to represent the world and how things work must be creative as much as everything around us is resolutely physical. My work contemplates genesis from both a theological and scientific perspective. To that end, I wanted to imagine what the beginning of everything would look like. In this body of work, I recreate what the Christian genesis tells us about creation, the birth of light, and life. I represent the instant in which all the baryonic matter in the universe was created and expanded into the cosmos. I imagine how the last sentient being would react to a fossilized human heart, floating through space on the precipice of the heat death of the universe. However, the intent of this work is not only represented by its content but also the methodology. The mark making used in all of my work is intuitive. For this work, I have developed the painting/sculpting technique to melt and mold into its meaning. Matter, space, and personhood is malleable; therefore, I represent these things in flux. The brush and finger strokes in my work look like waves or ripples. The intent in developing this style is to make work that is, in every way, trying to make sense of its own space.