‘Infinite Mirror’ Artist China Marks to Speak at Harris Auditorium Saturday, May 17

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Artist China Marks will describe how she uses industrial sewing machines, thread and printed fabric to construct flamboyantly hybrid characters acting out the big and little imperatives of our global culture in a lecture set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 17, at Harris Community Auditorium at the Foosaner Art Museum.

Marks is one of the 39 artists represented in Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity, an exhibition at Foosaner Art Museum representing the vast cultural blend of modern American society. American artists of African, Arab-European, Asian, Latino and Native American descent explore their heritage using a variety of media. The exhibition is on view through Aug. 17.

Marks was born and educated in Kansas City, Mo., earning a BFA in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute. A Fulbright-Hayes fellowship took her to Katmandu, Nepal, where she spent 16 months constructing a major installation out of local materials.

On her return to the United States, she was awarded a graduate fellowship by the Danforth Foundation and later earned her MFA in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis. Since 1999, she has lived and worked in Long Island City.

Living on the East Coast, Marks received numerous grants and awards for her art, including three fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts; a Mid-Atlantic Arts fellowship; two George Sugarman Foundation grants; two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships; and, last year, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.

Her work is shown in galleries and museums in the U.S. and Europe and she is represented by the J. Cacciola Gallery in New York City.

Infinite Mirror is developed by Artrain, Inc. and Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, Pa., and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. It is presented with support from the Institute of Museum & Library Services and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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