Bio
Marit Berg’s art is the offspring of two very different artistic modes. Her father was a professor of printmaking and her mother was an abstract expressionist painter. Throughout her childhood, she traveled the world with them, attending museums and schools along the way. Even though she was fascinated by the chemistry and machines in the printmaking studio, she primarily thought of herself as a painter. Then, after receiving her MFA, she took a position in the printmaking department of Tacoma Community College.
These days, she shifts between and often blends these contrasting approaches. Her paintings are figurative, yet highly imaginative and seemingly spontaneous. They are lush, free-flowing, and imbued with symbolism. Teaching printmaking has allowed her to dig deep into processes while focusing on craftsmanship and discipline. She enjoys printmaking and the methodical investment the artist must make in a piece before they can see results. This unlikely pairing of approaches has resulted in paintings and prints that manage to feel both process-driven and dreamlike at the same time.
Although Marit works in an expressive-realist style, she is not always concerned with representational space. Her work frequently features animals, the land, and the human form. She is interested in the delicate balance of life within the natural world, the relationships between species and how animals develop traits to thrive in their habitats. She balances a scientific view of the natural world’s order and classifications with mythological representations of animals as analogs for human behavior. She often deals with themes of predation, vulnerability, sensuality, isolation, and hierarchy inherent in both the animal kingdom and human societies.