Tempted By Origins, 2004
paint, wood, magnets on wall
interactive ferromagnetic installation
dimensions variable

Marci MacGuffie is a Brooklyn-based artist that PR has been following for some time. The focus of her ongoing studio practice is to make investigative work that brings together emerging patterns from widely different sources, such as science, religion, and ancient texts in order to unlock a deeper understanding of our transient existence. We dropped in on her studio in DUMBO a couple of times this past year to see what she's been working on.

Five Greys, 2004
cut paper collage, 48" x 60"

Busy work table

Stray Knot, 2005
collage on paper, 42" x 46"

Drawings in progress

As Jasper Johns said, "Take an object, do something with it, and then do something else with it.". This mantra has long been a hallmark for artists to explore different meanings and contexts for creative exploration, but MacGuffie takes this process to a whole other level. Her studio is covered with relentless investigations of these gathered sources of research and possibilities.

MacGuffie's pencil and ink drawings read as a theoretical sketch of a pilot's travel log into unknown territory. Circular motifs with symbolic and cosmic elements illustrate her carefully considered connections to forces of nature that are beyond our control. Different incarnations of her interactive ferromagnetic installations that allow the viewers to participate in how the marks are organized and displayed are documented and later translated into animations, paintings and works on paper.

Still life, letters

Silhouette ink drawings

Stray magnetic marks

Selection of circular works on paper

In her essay for the 2009 exhibition, Dis/Believer: Intersections of Science and Religion in Contemporary Art, curator Neysa Page-Lieberman writes of MacGuffie's work:

"A self- described “frenetic enthusiast... who embraces all energetic forces as more than arbitrary occurrences" MacGuffie observes “coincidences” in her life and carefully documents them until patterns start to emerge. These patterns or repetitions make their way into the designs of her compositions, and the entire process of documentation and interpretation has become a self-prescribed religion that gives her life structure and provides creative inspiration. This custom-built belief system draws from such disparate sources as her Judeo-Christian background, ancient calendar systems, mathematical equations, the circadian rhythm of bees and old school party games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey. "

Arousing Conviction, 2005
Interactive ferromagnetic installation
Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY

Arousing Conviction, detail

First Fruits Never Die, 2006
paper collage, plexiglas, wood on wall
Baumgartner Gallery, NYC

First Fruits Never Die, detail

Past exhibitions include shows at Goff and Rosenthal, Berlin, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC. The weekend of September 25-26, she will participate in the Dumbo Arts Festival Open Studios.

- Vince Contarino, 09.24.10