Phases: Amber Marie

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Amber Marie is a magical realist that specializes in portraits with symbolic imagery. She creates pieces with colored pencil and acrylic paint on wood or paper. Amber has been creating since she was very young. She was going to be a comic book artist when she was teenager, but found the power in portraits. Amber Marie also work in arts administration doing curation and events management, she loves to help other artists reach their goals. Amber received my Bachelor of Arts through Idaho State University. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but is also just as at home on the beach as well, having lived in South Carolina for many years with her family.

FROM THE ARTIST

She is kin
To the shifting sea,
The changing moon,
The wandering wind.
Never mistake her for
Something to be tamed.

John Mark Green

Women defy a blanket definition. My own journey as a woman is fraught with being told what I am, should be, and could become. It was beaten into me with words, fists, and actions by my biological parental units and an ex-husband. They wanted to harm me, to own me, and keep me from being anything more than a life support for my vagina. When I was talking to a support specialist on the National Suicide Hotline once, they asked me how I’ve kept going. That is an excellent question. Curiosity and perseverance is my answer.

To JUST BE is a huge act as a woman. To JUST BE what WE CHOOSE.

I want to present them. As they are in any phase of their life. I want to tell their stories, from how they change, how they handled what happened to them, what we are, and what we become. What is shared with me becomes a symbolic journey, where bones and skulls are truth and perfection, flowers are rebirth and death, and animals lead the way.

Not one of us is stagnant. We are never what we start out as. Our body changes alone bring about cultural and societal pressures and repercussions, as fluid becomes so important to us. Menstruation becomes a focus, as does our ability to lubricate ourselves for sex, or how well our body can propogate or not. There isn’t a thing about us that is not up for debate and definition from others.

My works are not intended to encourage debate. They are open to interpretation, connection, or dismissal, like any other piece of artwork. They exist to show the strength, passion, or another facet of the person within the piece.

Like the women they depict,

They just are.