surreal landscape scene; geometric layered imagery in center that resembles a floor or carpet, with multi-colored triangles and squares; green shape in center that opens up to reveal stylized leaves and foliage; black diamond shape with cut out raised sections that look like scales, revealing peach colored underlay; two large tentacle-like shapes on left and right, both with gold lines and darker shading around outside; blue background with dark outlines of trees, and small hills in URC; dark hill with dimensional elements in LRC

%C2%A9 Marcy Hermansader

Swamp Life, 1981

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In Swamp Life, the writhing tentacles and bare trees suggest dangers lurking in murky depths. Yet the colorful forms also remind us that a swamp is an ever-shifting environment of abundance, renewal, and growth. Here, Marcy Hermansader’s interpretation of a swamp seems to represent her broader creative approach: “I try to create a real feast for the eyes — an image that is intense and mysterious. I want each drawing to feel as full and complex as a world. Within this world there is often a suggestion of a story. A running theme of these stories is the process of renewal. Renewal involves destruction, fear, and pain as well as certain brightness, magic, or spiritual power.”

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Details
Title
Swamp Life
Artist Life
born 1951
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.96.1
Curator Approved

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surreal landscape scene; geometric layered imagery in center that resembles a floor or carpet, with multi-colored triangles and squares; green shape in center that opens up to reveal stylized leaves and foliage; black diamond shape with cut out raised sections that look like scales, revealing peach colored underlay; two large tentacle-like shapes on left and right, both with gold lines and darker shading around outside; blue background with dark outlines of trees, and small hills in URC; dark hill with dimensional elements in LRC

© Marcy Hermansader

Because of © restrictions, we can only show you a small image of this artwork.