Marina Weiner

How did you get into making art?

I’ve made art for as long as I can remember. My parents encouraged me to express myself through music, art, and writing at an early age. Once I learned how to draw I was off to the races; I filled sketchbooks and canvases with portraits, cartoons, and observational drawings.

What are you currently working on?

This year I began a new body of work on paper exploring the objects that direct our bodies in public space. I am specifically interested in things like construction barricades, often covered in stripes, which tend to linger in public places and acquire accoutrements like ribbons, trash, or more signage. The stripes themselves are intriguing to me as a visual language that tells us where we can and can’t be when we’re in public. They act as stand-ins for an authoritative voice that may or may not be present or have any authority at all.

What inspired you to get started on this body of work?

I had the honor of attending a residency at Yaddo this spring. I had dedicated time to think and play without the baggage of my previous work all around me or the obligations of regular life. While traveling to Saratoga Springs for the residency, I spent a few days in New York City. The many construction barriers and haphazard urban structures that fill New York’s streets deeply inspired me.

Do you work on distinct projects or do you take a broader approach to your practice?

I think of my practice like a bus route and all my different ways of working and thinking are different stops along the route. There’s ceramic sculpture, works on paper, and found objects. There are discreet objects and site-responsive installations. I usually have three or four different sketchbooks and journals going at once – one for recording dreams, one for daily journaling, one for making drawings of the cat. Everything moves along incrementally and I am pleasantly surprised when I see elements of one project resurface in work that is completely different.

What’s a typical day like in your studio?

On a perfect studio day, I rise at dawn, look out the window and journal until noon. I experiment and discover in the studio with drawing and material until dinnertime. Then I walk for an hour or two, eat a delicious meal that has somehow materialized over the course of the day, and spend the evening watching TV or reading with my partner.

Of course, the days are rarely perfect. But I try to accomplish at least two of the above things every day.

Who are your favorite artists?

Last year I learned about the Italian designer and artist Bruno Munari (1907-1998), who made sculptures, poems, children’s books, and household items. I love his sense of play and irreverence and his deep respect for the natural world. His children’s books are designed to place the reader in the role of the protagonist, so that everything unfolds and reveals itself through a child’s agency and sense of wonder. I realized that his work felt familiar to me because I myself had a book of his as a child called In the Darkness of the Night – a beautiful, formative book for me as a young artist.

Other major artists who have shaped my sensibility and my relationship to material are Eva Hesse, Martin Puryear, Louise Bourgeois, and Marisa Merz.

Where do you go to discover new artists?

My day jobs have always been art-adjacent (museums or galleries), which has been essential in introducing me to new artists. I go to as many shows as I can; there’s always so much to see in Los Angeles. And I read about contemporary art through publications like BOMB and Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles.