Marlene Wiedenbaum

I am a passionate realist, working with a palette of soft pastels, sanded paper, and a kneaded eraser. My early years of working in the abstract helped me refine my handling of the medium and sharpen my understanding of shape and form as it manifests in the natural world. I feel obligated as an artist to reflect the world I live in, to look keenly at my environment, and to present it to the viewer in an engaging way.
My ongoing “Threads” series is inspired by a once thriving family business in NYC called Abrams Fringe. The series is a connection to the Abrams women, my mother being the last. Near the end of her life, I was compelled to examine the lace, spools and fabrics left to me from their business and their generation as I said goodbye.
Paintings from the “Sacred Ground” series explore a more generalized struggle with loss, that of the American Landscape. I’ve spent much of the last twenty years exploring preserves, state parks and conservation areas of the Hudson Valley. In a collaboration with several organizations including the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, the Mohonk Preserve, The Nature Conservancy and Scenic Hudson, “Sacred Ground” pays tribute to and supports land preservation and planned development and hopefully increases the public's understanding of preservation. “Rock Hill” paintings are of my own acreage, which connects to the Mohonk Preserve.