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In a tradition as old as the circus,
a handful of sawdust,
taken from the ring as the tent comes down,
is carried to the place of the next performance
and scattered into the new sawdust,
as the tent rises again.
In a continuing cycle,
like the generations of family,
what was ...
becomes part of what is to be.
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This exhibition, like all of my work, is a reflection of American history in the form of a collage – layers of lives and families, images and memories. For me, collage is both the medium and the message. Each painting is made of layers of intensely dyed papers, torn and assembled to create images. The colors and textures of the paper are like the colors and textures in each life. The layers of paper echo the layers of generations that create a family. And all that I have created here celebrates the timeless tradition of family that is the American Circus.
– Marilyn Cohen
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Marilyn Cohen was born and raised in New York City and attended the School of Visual Arts. In 1980 she began experimenting with collage as fine art. Inspired by old photos and family stories, her work focuses on the personalization of American history through the use of familiar, everyday images and shared experiences.
She uses a growing body of oral histories and memories, gathered from all over the country, as the written word accompanying her visual narrative paintings. Earlier exhibitions have celebrated the immigrant experience "Where Did They Go When They Came to America?" and American women of the 20th century "Teach Me the Songs My Mothers Sang – a Celebration of American Women." Now, she celebrates the tradition of family in the American circus with "Life's A Circus."
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