Check out Marie Teilhard’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie Teilhard.

Marie, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am Conceptual Self-Portrait Photographer. I began “selfie” photography in September 2014, after 18 months of amateur modeling for other photographers. I wanted to challenge those collaborations with more ornate, fantasy staging but they were unable to connect with my burgeoning vision. I would suggest purple eyelashes, orange hair, glitter appliqués, and a cellophane-covered face; to which their replies were, “You want to wear what?”

So, for these photographers, I staged myself and photographed draft concepts with my smartphone. Thus, a vision for creating and photographing my own concept imagery emerged. I began to capture abstractions, e.g., Words, Memory, Time, Winter.

Constructing my own props from thrifted objects, I do all of the staging, costuming, modeling, makeup-artistry, and retouching for my images. All of my photographs were taken in my home (mostly in my bathroom and kitchen where the lighting is best) with my iPhone 6s. For each of my images, I also compose literary prose to amplify the visual image.

I enjoy bringing metaphors to life!

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My concept self-portraiture serves primarily as a visual journal of my experiences in life and in relationships. I use found objects, most recently eggshells, banana peels, and razor blades, as symbols for everyday incidents, issues and thoughts. My art aims to elicit response from viewers and offer unique ways of processing layers of emotion and experience.

For my artwork, I do all of my own make-up, staging, and prop fabrication. I feel my art is most successful when viewers engage with work, not exactly sure what they seeing, but knowing that there is something going on. My hope is that viewers can connect with the subject matter on many levels. I enjoy comments such as: “Your art makes me think.” My overall goal is to challenge viewers to see beauty and intrigue, as I strive to appropriate everyday objects artistically in a compelling manner.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I do believe that, along with depicting personal themes and interests, the role of artists has shifted to engaging culture. I believe that artists have a sober responsibility to create works that reflect personal narratives which ultimately have universal application. For me, as I process broader life issues, I seek to hone them into a personal reflection, and then share that reflection as an instance with which individuals and communities can understand and use as an on-ramp for further discourse.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work can be found on digital platforms, Facebook and Instagram: @mteilhard; and via my website www.marieteilhardart.com. I am also a lecturer on art and philosophy, often debuting new work via presentations around the country.

Contact Info:

• Website: marieteilhardart.com
• Phone: 541-316-5891
• Email: marie@marieteilhard.com
• Instagram: mteilhard
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/missmarieteilhard
• Twitter: mteilhard

Image Credit:
All photos are self portraits – Marie Teilhard

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