“Put that stuff in the world that you want to see, provide that voice.”
Marlana Adele Vassar is a Pittsburgh-area artist and University of Pittsburgh alum (2006). Largely self-taught as an artist, Vassar’s philosophy of balancing style and substance has attracted a diverse audience to her work. Combining surrealism and symbolism throughout her art, Marlana Vassar created a bronze sculpture that is personal yet open to interpretation.
Vassar began her career as a graphic designer with the intention to move into game design, however a series of personal events turned her focus to the world of fine art. Since 2008, her work has been featured nationwide in museums, galleries and public projects. Known for her sumptuous style and attention to detail, Vassar has earned numerous accolades for her images.
INTERVIEW:
BA: Tell me a little about your background.
MV: I’m from Union City, a very rural city in southwestern Pennsylvania. My parents are proud African Americans and traditional but very encouraging of my creativity. My childhood was low tech; focused on reading and being outside. I taught myself to draw because I wanted to learn. My family is a funeral family, so I thought I would go into science or medical. I had a real interest in biology but in high school, I took an AP Chem class and I wasn’t interested in going into a medical profession anymore. I always had an interest in figurative sculpture and it just so happened that we attended a lecture here in Pittsburgh. That was the first day I went to the Carnegie Art Museum. I was like whoa, I want to do this with my life, this is so amazing.
So, how do you do that? I had a natural drawing talent but I had to build upon that, so I thought, I’ll go to school. I started out in design school and later went into a fine arts program. I felt the design part was really essential to me. I didn’t completely abandon my interest in the human body and biology, but I always tried to focus on the relationships between humans and nature and humans in their environment. Surrealism was always a huge focus for me.
BA: You went into graphic design. How did you evolve as a freelance artist?
MV: I took freelance graphic design jobs all through college. By the time I finished school, I got my first almost full-time graphic design job working in newspapers. We had to design really complex ads. What would happen was, we’d get an ad, and somebody would start it but not necessarily be the one to finish it because of the way the queue worked. It was like a production style warehouse. That job really helped me learn good design principles, make decisions and work collaboratively. I never stopped making art. What I focused on was, do the things I needed to do professionally but I always focused on my stuff. The thing is, when you do things professionally, you’re not always going to be doing your work. During the graphic design years, I was always doing that, I was constantly taking jobs, if you want to call it a side hustle.
BA: As of now, what are your favorite mediums to use?
MV: Honestly, I’d say oils. I figured I’d pick this paint because it dries slowly enough and you can figure out what you’re doing. I have time to blend. I did not like acrylics at all but I eventually forced myself to use them because I thought I would love to paint a mural, but I didn’t know how to do that. And most murals are acrylic so I just kind of forced myself to use them. With oil and clay and being able to transform that into bronze, I feel like I’m going down a dangerous road, but I think bronze is one of my new favorite mediums. It requires patience but if you’re willing to go through the work and the process, it’s amazing at the end.
BA: What was your journey to creating Flora?
MV: It was part of a project called Art and Parks and there were multiple parks throughout Pittsburgh. Luckily, I was chosen for Highland Park. It is one of Pittsburgh’s historic parks and it’s a national park. So I had to consider the history and legacy, what’s already there and what’s not going to work.
We have a sizeable collection of Giuseppe Moretti statues and they go all the way back to like late 1800’s. The Welcome Gates were from 1896. So when I asked, well, what do you think of the existing art? A lot of the respondents mentioned they were upset with the lack of diversity in the city’s art collection and they were saying, why can’t we have more art featuring black and brown people, women and just more diversity? The area where Highland Park is located has been a point of contention, which as a brown person, I totally get. A lot of our artworks are not being pushed and there has been a more of a push to include black and brown representation in east Liberty since we did very much contribute to the culture and the building around here. To address the diversity point, I looked at the statues in the park and all the children were male so I thought, ok well, they don’t have any little girl figures so maybe we can put a little black girl here, that checks off those boxes.
Back in Moretti’s time, the focus on public art was more about showcasing the greatness of man, so you have the high vantage point, the oversized figures. And I thought what if we showed greatness in a different way and made one that was like a continuation of the story but brought it down to the viewer level? Through care and humility, respect and accessibility. So, we changed the vantage point and we changed the story. So, she is featured caring for an animal and it’s a smaller, humble creature.
I think we went through 5 designs and three maquettes before settling on that last one. If I had unlimited time, I probably would’ve changed things. But you, Form and Raneski were really helpful to talk me out of bad decisions; that’s where it’s helpful to have collaboration in art.
BA: Did they have specifications like historical periods or historical times for the sculpture itself?
MV: Not quite. It was more like we were sticking with historical elements, so I did get artistic freedom in that. Her dress kind of mimics the other female figures in the park a little bit. She was originally like a tree spirit so the bottom of the dress, where the folds are, was actually tree roots. I’m glad we went with the dress cause it was a better decision.
BA: Are the other sculptures in the park bronze?
MV: They are. The fact that bronze can be here long after we’re gone; we still have bronze pieces in the world that are from like the BC era. That’s crazy. You don’t hear that about art materials. So I thought it was really important that they need something timeless, that matches, and something that provides history and legacy to the park. I know a lot of artists have stopped working in bronze because it takes a lot of time and is cost prohibitive but I felt like it was really important for them to have this project in bronze.
BA: Was this your first project making it all the way to sculpture?
MV: Yes. I had some sculptural training before. I had always wanted to try bronze. Never mind that I didn’t know how to do that stuff. If you don’t have the training or the physical ability to get a foundry or learn from them, it’s very hard to get involved in the atelier company. We don’t actually have bronze foundries in Pittsburgh that deal with bronze, which is part of the reason we were grateful to find you guys.
BA: Can you talk a little bit more about it being such an important chapter in your career?
MV: It was life changing for me because I was able to do something that I never thought I was going to be able to do. I hope that now that I’ve linked up with Bollinger that I’ll be able to do things like editions and maybe even more public art and really focus on bronze as a timeless medium.
BA: Do you feel like your work is answering something or is it something you’re directing people towards?
MV: When I first started, one of the points I wanted to answer for myself was, why do you feel upset in the world? A lot of times it was because I didn’t see a lot of people that looked like me in art and design, in fashion and media. I thought: instead of relying on others to create these things to please you, you can please yourself and just make them; put that stuff in the world that you want to see, provide that voice.
That’s where I started and now I feel like I’m expanding my ideas of human representation. How can I expand on not just black and brown representation but maybe going off on something more surreal like how we are related to creatures, plants and the environment around us; how we got here and what is our connection to the world. I started out with representation but it’s not enough for me now and it’s sort of expanding to what it’s like to be human and just happening to show that through a black or brown character. Even if you don’t look like the character in the work, you can probably take something away from this.
Flora is a woman of color but she is also someone small and I know a lot of people in East Liberty area are frustrated because it’s not easy to live here a lot of the time, just access to things like healthcare and food. That’s really disheartening. It affects all demographics. You kind of have to think someone else who is feeling unheard and sees this little girl who isn’t necessarily an important historic figure, but somebody who has a voice, a platform and is looking out for another little guy, the little rabbit. You don’t necessarily have to be huge to achieve greatness. You have people who have good value systems in place where they focus on being a part of their community, even if their voice is small. You can have a small soul but a big voice.
That’s really what I wanted people to take away from her. She represents people of color, but she also represents people who may not feel seen or feel like their voice isn’t heard. She represents the little guy.
See Marlana’s work on her website: https://marlana.me/
And give her a follow: https://www.instagram.com/marlanasmusings/
