Marci Tackett has lived and worked in New Zealand since 2006, developing and expanding her interdisciplinary art practice and teaching at The Learning Connexion in Lower Hutt. She was born in Denver, Colorado in 1968.
In 1994 she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking and her Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the University of Colorado. In 2014 she received the Diploma of Art and Creativity (Advanced) from The Learning Connexion in Lower Hutt.
In 2001 Tackett received the Annual Fellowship Award from Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California and has been awarded artist residencies in both New Zealand and the USA. In 2013 she was shortlisted for the Parkin Drawing Prize. In 2018 Tackett was a Merit Grant Recipient for a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and she was represented by Solander Gallery at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair.
In 2019, she collaborated with fellow printmaker Toni Mosley to create a collaborative, interactive exhibition entitled Selective Memory which was shown at Railway Street Studios in Auckland. Additionally in 2019 and 2020 she was a finalist for the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award.
Artist Statement
“My work is about visual perception. We all know that when we are looking at a print we are observing nothing more than a thin support (paper) with layers of oil and pigment (ink) pushed into that support by way of a press. I am interested in reminding viewers that everything that happens when we see is about perception and the way our brains organise visual information.
This series of works extend from my investigation having to do with the confounding of visual hierarchy based on altering colour, tinting strength and transparency. In this iteration I have added in texture, gesture and mark-making density variations.
My goal has been to see if dominant shapes/marks that want to take on a primary compositional role by their inherent nature can also take on secondary, submissive roles within the visual hierarchy and visa-versa. My testing has taken place by using 16 plates in different combinations and orientations. The square is an essential component as it maximises possibilities.