About the Exhibit
Marjorie Guisao-Wallace brings the world of beetles & bugs back to the Newport News Community Gallery in her exhibit, Beetle Mania: Science, Arts, and the World of Beetles! Explore the wonderful world of beetles through art enhanced with vibrant colors and textures. Interactive features include a variety of giant hand-painted floor puzzles, microscopes magnifying intricate insect body anatomy, and fun photo ops. Sequential artworks (ceramics, paintings, and installations) focus on beetle metamorphosis, pollination, and symbiotic relationships. Beetle Mania will also feature an interactive hide-and-seek available to search for beetles in their natural habitats and several camouflaged beetles around the exhibit hall.
About the artist: “Art is an expression of me- creative, imaginative, historic, relevant, musical, poetic, artsy, and reflective of everyday issues and my love of life. Telling stories goes back to my Gullah upbringing. My father called me his “Renaissance child”. I do it all; I experiment with space and my surroundings by creating everything with natural materials, found objects, and a large range of mediums.
The eldest daughter of two artist parents, I learned to appreciate the arts from birth. Surrounded by canvas, turpentine, museums, known and evolving artist, writers, civil rights leaders, actors, and musicians helped form my view of the world. The world is an intricate colorful palette designed to fill a canvas with wonderful stories and experiences. Nineteen years ago, I moved to Newport News, VA from Brooklyn, NY, and made Virginia my home. Later pieces depict life in Virginia. Earlier pieces were influenced by travels and love of the environment. While in High school I earned a scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum Student Art League, and exchanged ideas and styles with my self-taught parents. We were all members of the Artist Leagues of Brooklyn (ALB) and co-owners of the Tu-Can Duffield Gallery of Art, Brooklyn, NY.”
