The Leader
Life & Arts

Martha Colburn’s opening exhibition at Marion Art Gallery

BRENTON NEWCOMB 

Special to The Leader

The Marion Art Gallery is starting this season with an exhibition from Martha Colburn — an internationally renowned, award-winning artist.

She is known for her experimental stop-motion animated films.  

The exhibition, “Imagined Histories,” features five stop-motion animated films and will be open to the public from Sept.  3 to Nov. 22 with an opening reception on October 18.

The exhibition reception is 6 p.m to 9 p.m, and is also free and open to the public.

Martha Colburn, born in Gettysburg PA, currently lives and works out of Amsterdam and Los Angeles.   

Colburn has produced a total 70 films since beginning in 1995. 

She is a self-learned filmmaker who first began by manipulating existing footage.

Colburn went on to produce her own animated films with a Super 8mm camera.  

Many of her initial films in the collage style serve as music videos for groups that she and her friends played in. 

In a recent interview with Dazed.com, she says many of her films are a “comment on popular culture, consumerism, politics and sexuality.”  

Many of Colburn’s films feature homemade puppets, combined with vintage puzzles and old film footage in a collaged together avant-garde fashion. 

These puppets are, as artist Leonor Faber-Jonker puts it, “Protagonists of Captivating Tales” that take the form of “historical figures, wriggly insects, fantastical creatures, spirits and animals.”

The puppets are animated with a technique she has coined “a two-and-a-half D world” because although it is two-dimensional it appears to be three-dimensional.

Colburn’s plan for the future are similar to her collage art. 

If you have any questions, contact Marion Art Gallery director Barbara Racker at barbara.racker@fredonia.edu

Related posts

Peppermint from RuPaul’s Drag Race visits SUNY Fredonia

Contributor to The Leader

What will happen to freshmen who are attending Fredonia with a discontinued major?

Alex Bucknam

TADA to perform “Legally Blonde: The Musical”

Contributor to The Leader

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By clicking any link on this page, you are permitting us to set cookies. Accept Read More