My work constantly manipulates the physical: metal, paint, ink, and bodies. While my hands bend, heat, and brush, my mind hovers in geometries. Plato’s inquiries into the timeless perfection of imagined geometric shapes, and into how geometries might lie behind all nature, inspire me to make objects that (though necessarily imperfect because they will never have perfect straight edges, and must eventually erode) tease our minds toward the perfect. The objects I make ask viewers to drift within that gap between the non-physical, conceptual realm and our tangible, sensory experience.
In that dialogue between the ethereal and the concrete, I navigate form, structure, and being. Each line, angle, and intersection in my geometric compositions is a deliberate attempt to distill the universal essence inherent in our world’s specific physical materials. How is it possible that hexagonal molecules of ink can be drawn as a two-dimensional octahedron on a shoulder, and how does that octahedron pull one into thinking about how that ideal shape is shared by skin, diamonds and fluorite? A welded steel hexahedron, suspended near the ceiling so its shadows stretch from corner to corner of the room: The sculpture suggests the perfect, but its placement necessarily draws it into imperfections, pulling us back and forth between the possibilities.
My art works to balance viewers between those two, so that they can feel the material while sensing the potential perfection out of which it can be built.
Marina Claire is an LA-based visual artist working in metal, paint, and tattoos. The objects she makes — always imperfectly embodying perfection — ask viewers to drift within the gap between the non-physical, conceptual realm and our tangible, sensory experience. She holds degrees in Fine Arts and Philosophy from Parsons and Eugene Lang, is an MFA candidate at ArtCenter, and has exhibited work internationally.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
- 2026Ghost Ship — Gallery AF, 2323 E. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Fresh Series — Thinkspace, 4217 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Squatting in the Same River Twice — Solo, Gallery AF, 2323 E. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Nomad — Torrance Art Museum, 21515 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA
- 2026Cannibal Flower — Lucky Cat Gallery, 620 S. Main St, Los Angeles, CA
- 2026A Look to the Future: America at 350 — Brea Gallery, 1 Civic Center Cir. Brea, CA
- 2026Carnalis — Lucky Cat Gallery, 620 Main St. Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Streets, Structures and Stories — Band of Vices, 1700 S. Santa Fe Ave. Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Spectrum Gestalt — bG Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. Santa Monica, CA
- 2026Featured Artist, Cannibal Flower — Gabba Gallery, 235 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA
- 2026Best Of… — The Hive, 729 S. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA
- 2026OC Made — Fullerton Museum, 301 N. Pomona Ave. Fullerton, CA
- 2026Tarot XVII — The Hive, 729 S. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025GFTD — Gallery AF, 2323 E. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025The Middle Becomes Eclectic II — The Middle Room Gallery, 3229 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Ellsworth Alumni Exhibition — Art Share LA, 801 E. 4th Pl. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Self/not Selfie - Golden West College Art Gallery, 15751 Gothard St. Huntington Beach, CA
- 2025See What You Can Find Vol. 2 — The BruHaus, 1541 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Ellsworth Residency Exhibition — Art Share LA, 801 E. 4th Pl. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Made in the USA: Comics to Counterculture — TAG, 5458 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Timeisms — Echo Park Art Gallery, 1729 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Spectrum Gestalt — bG Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. Santa Monica, CA
- 2025Summer Salon 2025 — Art Share LA, 801 E. 4th Pl. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Brewery Artwalk — Badlands Gallery, 660 Moulton Ave. Los Angeles, CA
- 202520 Year Anniversary Show — Hive Gallery, 729 S. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Reflection/Resilience — The Los Angeles Makery, 260 S. Los Angeles St. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025The Other Art Fair — 2800 Casitas Ave. Los Angeles, CA
- 2025EMERGE — Raven’s Gallery, 1545 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
- 2024MAS Attack — Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Dr N, Torrance, CA
- 2024The Sacred Realm — Echo Park Art Gallery, 1729 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Hunt of the Unicorn — Hoofprint Editions, 3143 S. Morgan St. Chicago, IL
- 2024SIGIL — Echo Park Art Gallery, 1729 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Spectrum Gestalt — bG Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. Santa Monica, CA
- 2024PARAMNESIA — Echo Park Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Lost and Found — La Luz de Jesus, 4633 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2024L.A. Open — TAG, 5458 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Beauty of Stillness — Old Town Newhall Library, Santa Clarita, CA
- 2024All Women — Light Space and Time Gallery, Online Exhibition
- 2024Black, White, or Grey — Las Laguna Gallery, Online Exhibition
- 2023Artist of the Autumn — UPWARD Gallery, online and print
- 2023Apophenia — LAMAG, 4800 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
- 2023Art as Power — Blind Insect, 2841 NE Alberta St. Portland, OR
- 2023228 — ADX, 417 SE 11th Ave. Portland, OR
- 2022Art of Illumination — Past Lives, 2808 SE 9th Ave. Portland, OR
- 2022The Print Matrix — Sidestreet Arts, 140 SE 28th St. Portland, OR
- 2021The Inked Image — Sidestreet Arts, 140 SE 28th St. Portland, OR
- 2019akrasia unbedingt: A Retrospective — 941 Willoughby Ave. Brooklyn, NY
- 2019Prayer Circle — The Crypt, 261 Tompkins Ave. Brooklyn, NY
- 2018Growing Pebbles — SLEEP CENTER, 9 Monroe St. New York, NY
- 2017Novo ARTS — Goodshanks Loft, Brooklyn, NY
- 2016The Void, Vol. I, II — Infinite Balcony, 541 Hart St. Brooklyn, NY
- 2015Grime Surge — 191 Henry St. New York, NY
- 2015Locker Room Culture — Grimshaw-Gudewicz Gallery, Fall River, MA
- 2014Unreasoned Order — NRM Gallery, 25 E. 25th St. New York, NY
- 2014Rundgang — Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany
AWARDS & PUBLICATIONS
- 2026Kipaipai Fellow — Kipaipai Workshop, San Luis Obispo, CA
- 2026Grant Recipient — Center for Cultural Innovation
- 2026In the Middle of Conscious Giving — author, review for Art & Cake Magazine
- 2025Self Portraits as Existential Affirmations — featured artist, review by Betty Ann Brown for Art & Cake Magazine
- 2025Excellence in Book Art — Made in the USA Exhibition Award, TAG Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 2025Poet’s Place — LA Art News, May 2025 Edition, Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Artist in Residence — Ellsworth Residency, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
- 2024Rising Star Fellowship — Etcheve
- 2023Winner, Artist of the Autumn — UPWARD Quarterly
- 2014Philosophy & The Media Fellowship with Dr. Simon Critchley
- 201412th Street, Issue No. 7 — Riggio Honors Program: Writing and Democracy
- 2010Marjorie Flack Award for Fiction
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION
- 2028MFA in Fine Arts Candidate, Art Center College of Design — Pasadena, CA
- 2023FCAW Welding Certification (AWS D1.1-20), Portland Community College — Portland, OR
- 2015BFA in Fine Arts, Parsons School of Design — New York, NY
- 2015BA in Philosophy, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School — New York, NY
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