Marlisa André Anderson
Marlisa André Anderson is a retired Art, Stage & Set Design teacher from New York. For decades she taught art to children, young adults and families throughout New York and Northampton, Ma. She is a multi-media artist and educator residing in Sacramento.
Her art has been featured in exhibitions throughout the United States including the Studio Museum, Harlem; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Pratt Institute, NY; Jamaica Art Center, NY ; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Billboards + Broadsides, L.I.U. and Hackerlab, Sacramento, CA. In 1993 Marlisa had a 6 month residency in Kenya, East Africa where she taught crochet techniques while learning basket weaving techniques from women’s cooperatives there.
Education
● M.Ed., Smith College, Northampton, Ma. 1988
● B.F.A. (Honors) , Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1984
N.Y.C. Art License K-12 1993
N.Y.S. Art License K-12 1992
America Stars & Stripes 1992 (What Goes Around Comes Around), crocheted tapestry 36” diam.
The central section of the piece represents the white and blue seven pointed stars with arrows pointing inward and the stars exploding outward. The red and white stripes alternate and end up moving outward with nuclear warheads of white. The piece represents America's unequal influence throughout the world especially in developing nations.
Homage to the Ancestors 1998, crocheted tapestry 36” diam.
I chose the colors red for the blood and sacrifice. Green represents the Motherland. Black represents the people. This piece shows unmarked tombstones that represent those who have come and passed throughout history. There are red and green spiraling around the tombstones and moving outward toward the edge. Underneath the unmarked grave where vessels are being poured into the center to revitalize and capture the essence of my people. On the top are the houses which represent the family moving further and further away from our roots.
Pathways to Enlightenment 2020, crocheted tapestry 36” diam.
Pathways to Enlightenment represents the culture of the Tibetan people. Most of the time I use the colors of a country's flag to make a statement. Unfortunately, the colors of the Tibetan flag are too numerous to use. I decided to use yellow to represent saffron spice and red to represent paprika. These are the colors of the robes of the red hat monks of Tibet and their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Very few people are aware of the difficulties Tibetans have under the rule of the Chinese regime and the exile of their political and spiritual leader.
Marlisa Andre Anderson
Geometrical and Subtle, by Luis R. Campos-Garcia (he, him, his), Visual Artist
Art cannot change society by itself, but it can inspire people to organize to make change possible. Some artists have used their artwork to make social commentaries of different aspects of society that are detrimental to humanity and the world. Artists act as witnesses and creatively depict what is happening around them. Sometimes, they are direct and crude; other times, they are subtle and indirect, yet their artworks are charged with emotions and the desire to inspire people to change for the better.
Anderson’s mandalas evoke Buddhist, and Native American art. She uses symmetry, balance, and color in her artworks to make social commentaries on contemporary issues in a subtle way that invites the viewer to take more time gazing at the artworks to reveal the imagery connected with social justice.