Maria Marshall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maria Marshall
Marshall in 2018
Born	Maria Marshall 1966 (age 58–59) Bombay, Mumbai, India
Nationality	British, Swiss
Education	Chelsea College of Arts Wimbledon College of Arts, London
Known for	Artist
Notable work	When I grow up I Want To Be a Cooker (1998)

Maria Marshall (born in 1966) is an artist from England and Switzerland. She was born in Mumbai, India. She became well-known in the late 1990s for her video art, which often featured children. Her newer artworks include a character called "Thought." This character is an alter ego, meaning a different version of herself. "Thought" can enter people's minds and change their ideas. These works are based on meditation and use video, photos, paintings, and sculptures.

About Maria Marshall

Maria Marshall was born in Mumbai, India. Today, she lives and works in Berlin, Germany. She is a citizen of both Switzerland and Britain. She studied sculpture at the Wimbledon College of Arts in London. She also studied at the Chelsea College of Arts in London and the Geneva School of Fine Arts.

Maria Marshall's Artworks

What Her Art Is About

Maria Marshall's films often feel like dreams and can make you feel uneasy. She explores big ideas about right and wrong, and how people think. She uses digital tricks to create art pieces. When these are shown as installations, they can really make viewers think. She says her goal is not to shock people. Instead, she wants to show a beautiful image that makes you wonder why it feels uncomfortable.

Her films often focus on the world of children. They show adult worries through the eyes of kids. She puts children in situations that make grown-ups feel uneasy. This makes the idea of innocence seem more complicated. She explores subjects like childhood and innocence, showing both good and bad sides. Children or teenagers in her videos often seem threatened or alone in danger. This can show a mother's worries for her own children. Maria Marshall has said her videos include her own fears as a mother.

Her works are still shown around the world. This includes places like the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

The Character "Thought"

Recently, Maria Marshall created a superhero-like character named "Thought." She uses this character to explore new ideas. Her powerful films aim to stop war by changing thoughts. "Thought" dances at a Mount Everest base camp, showing a dance of freedom. This character also performs Sufi whirling around the world. "Thought" paints the "noise" around the mind, as seen in her works Stille and Flak. These were shown at Art Loft Berlin. In Hair Sweet Hair, an exhibition about how hair affects "Thought," she included paintings, sculptures, and photos.

How She Makes Her Films

Maria Marshall often uses her own children to act in her films. This makes the artworks feel very real and strong. She is very precise in how she creates her art. This includes the materials she uses, the lighting, and how she frames each shot. Marshall uses techniques like repeating scenes (loops), zooming in, and slow motion. These methods help to make the films feel more anxious and intense.

The names of her artworks often come from things her children have said. For example, When I Grow Up, I Want To Be A Cooker. The sound in her films is often simple. It might be a child's voice repeating a phrase, like "I Love You Mummy, I Hate You." Or it could be a loud, haunting sound, like the missing ball in Playground. Marshall also uses silence to make her films powerful.

The look of her art can remind you of old paintings. For example, I Should Be Older Than All of You shows a young boy lying still. He is surrounded by snakes. The way the scene is set up is like Baroque paintings. This connects her films to older Western art, which can make them even more thought-provoking.

Selected Video Artworks

Famous Video Works

• When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Cooker (1998): This video shows a two-year-old child. The child is seen breathing in from a cigarette and blowing out perfect smoke rings.
• I Saw You Crying: A teenager laughs slowly in front of a yellow curtain. He then lifts a gun and shoots towards the camera. The curtain turns red as the boy cries.
• Trout: A child rides a tricycle forward with a sign that says "Love Me." As the child pedals, people in the background walk backward.
• Cyclops: This is a video installation. Two videos are shown together in a corner. One screen shows a woman, and the other shows a child. The camera moves around them like a hunter in their cold rooms. The woman is lit with unsettling lights. It seems like the two screens want to connect. The sound is recorded from the camera, creating an eerie noise that matches the movement.
• Playground: A teenager plays football in slow motion against a church. The ball is removed, but its shadow keeps playing. The sound of the ball hitting the wall is made very loud. This makes the boy's effort feel very strong. The boy kicks the ball around the Church as if it were just an object. This work shows a feeling against rules or traditions.
• Don´t let the T Rex Get The Children: The video starts with a close-up of a child's face. The child licks the screen and then smiles. The camera then shows the child laughing in a strange way. Viewers then see the child's shaved head and a bright green jacket in a soft room. These unusual parts make the video unsettling.
• I Should Be Older Than All Of You (2000): This video uses a special camera to film a child's chest breathing. The camera slowly pulls back to show the child lying still in a box of red and orange silks. The scene is very precise, like a sculpture. As the camera shows the full image, snakes are seen moving in the gold silk edges. These snakes remind viewers of old paintings. The snakes move towards the child, who remains calm.
• When are we there? (2001): Viewers walk up a staircase and into a room where a woman stands still. As viewers look at the woman, marks appear on her skin. It is as if the viewer's gaze is invisibly touching her.
• I Love You Mummy - I Hate You: A hammock holds two small boys and swings back and forth. One boy says "I love you Mummy," and the other says "I hate you." The hammock swings to the rhythm of their voices. Later, the hammock is shown empty, which creates a feeling of loss.
• Dance for freedom- Thought: Maria Marshall's character "Thought" performs Sufi whirling dances around the world.
• I can see the wood for the trees: This artwork is shown on two screens facing each other. One screen shows a tank shooting at "Thought," who is holding a crying baby. A paintbrush appears in "Thought's" hand. She makes paint strokes that are shown on the other screen. These brush strokes make the tank disappear from the image.

Where Her Art Is Shown

Museums and Collections

Maria Marshall's art is part of many important collections around the world. These include:

• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
• Musée des Arts Contemporains, Grand Hornu, Belgium
• National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., USA
• Louis Vuitton Foundation, France
• Pinault Collection, France

Her work has also been shown in many solo and group exhibitions. These include major art events and galleries in cities like New York, Paris, Berlin, and London.

Awards and Activities

Maria Marshall has been invited to special art programs called residencies. These include places like Auckland Print Studio in New Zealand and KAUS Australia in Rotterdam. In 2017, she was part of a jury for film students at Pratt.

Books About Her Work

Several books have been written about Maria Marshall's art. These include:

• Maria Marshall: I Love You Mummy, I Hate You (2013)
• Maria Marshall by Dorothea Strauss (2002)