ME

my name is joanna leigh marshall. i earned by BFA in graphic design from the maryland institute college of art in baltimore. i graduated at the top of my class from a visual arts high school where i specialized in drawing and painting. professionally i focus on design, especially in the fashion and music industries, and my personal fine art has always been vital to me.
recently i've been designing apparel graphics for under armour here in baltimore, which has re-awakened my interest in fashion... i've created textile prints, placed graphics, and color/mood boards for multiple categories..

ARTIST'S STATEMENTS

FALLING: my series of drawings depicting isolated nude figures falling through a white vertical plain were inspired by the concept of limbo; a space between worlds; which arose from my research into native american creation myths which describe the female creator falling to earth. one drawing includes roots and leaves around the woman's body to illustrate her connectedness to nature, to refer to a mother nature archetype. one shows the figure caught in an umbilical chord, drawing parallels between birth and afterlife and how these are connected to the female body. another shows the figure at rest, slumped haphazardly, in a moment of stillness and resigned solitude. the drawings are meant to convey a sense of calm as well as a sense of gravity and unrest, and they were also a chance to explore the beauty of the female form and utilize the symbolism of a youth, vulnerability and fertility.

LIMBO: this series grew out of the 'falling' series... it continues to explore the quiet, simplistic beauty of a transparent and delicate image. it's the type of silence that leaves a ringing in your ears. these pieces are named after various religion's concepts of the between-world; the uncanny parallels between spiritual beliefs that developed worlds apart from one another fascinate me. the images are expressions of what i imagine that between-world to feel like, as one's spirit and body are pulled and dissolved across time.