Mar Goman: Pharmacy of the Soul

I really don't know much about the artist Mar Goman, but her Pharmacy of the Soul series is beautiful. See more from the artist on her Pinterest page. Read an interview with Goman from 2014 here. Most of her exhibits seems to have been on the West Coast. I'll be watching for a show closer to home.

This was from an exhibit in 2010 at the 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Mar Goman is a mixed-media artist who has always worked with a wide range of materials and media and her artwork does not fit into any one category. She often uses materials from nature, cast offs from a consumer society, and a variety of recycled and repurposed materials. These materials range from pieces of rusty metal, old books and book pages, sticks and stones, bones, buttons, bottles, boxes, vintage fabrics and objects, and many other items. Her work includes drawing, painting, embroidery and sewing, book arts, sculpture and assemblage, textiles, and collage. She describes herself as a ‘thing maker’ and the objects she makes have an aggressively hand-made look.

Mar’s work is generally based on her own psycho-spiritual journey, which incorporates wisdom from many different traditions, as is reflected in the pieces. She is influenced by Outisder art, Naïve Art, and Art Brut as well as tribal art. This work is made purely for the purposes of its maker, and is not influenced by the art market or the art world. However, though it may seem contradictory, she is also influenced by contemporary art and artists.

Several series are included in this show, including her series of dresses, which serve as stand-ins for the female figure, and pieces from her “Pharmacy of the Soul” series. The dresses range from doll-sized to larger than life-sized and are covered with things such as buttons, rusty metal, lines of poetry, or an assortment of found objects. “Pharmacy of the Soul” consists of a variety found boxes and old cabinets filled with an assortment of scrolls and altered bottles. Also included in the show will be altered books, embroideries, and other hand-made objects.