THE
SILENT
M A R I E T TA
ROAD
PAT R I C I A
L E I S
The Silent Road a sculptural painting by
Marietta Patricia Leis
THE SILENT ROAD The road to authenticity is by its very nature traveled in solitude. It is an internal road that, with patience, can lead deep into the core of our being. As we each embark on the journey to this rich and fertile place, we can discover a common thread of the shared humanity that binds us.
SCULPTURAL PA I N T I N G The Silent Road is a dialogue between painting and sculpture. It is a road that leads in two directions, reaching upward toward the ancient beamed ceiling of the Palazzo Mora and winding downward to its staircase landing. The Silent Road was inspired by my time in Iceland during the dark months of the long Icelandic winter. The treeless, volcanic, landscape revealed the earth’s curved horizon, confronting me with a stark image of all that is infinite both visually and metaphorically. My acute sense of this fascinating and haunting place provided fertile ground for germination of The Silent Road.
I have always made art using a variety of mediums, choosing those that best serve and amplify my intentions. For The Silent Road, graphite painted on Tyvek ™ (a paperlike plastic sheeting used to insulate houses) evoked the shimmering darkness of Iceland’s volcanic rock. I hand burnished the graphite until it radiated that luster. Thus, the Tyvek ™ is magically transformed, as old traditions meet modern technologies on The Silent Road.
My handwork has traced every inch of surface on The Silent Road, marking a path and leaving a record of my artist’s journey for others to follow. The Road’s reductive surface texture offers hidden complexities for the viewer to ferret out an opportunity to engage with the work without straining to understand it simply traveling the road with me for a journey in silent contemplation.
The Silent Road was conceived and executed as a site specific work for the international exhibition Personal Structures, presented by the European Cultural Center in the Piazza Mora during the 2019 Venice Biennale. At the end of the exhibition, The Silent Road, by the American artist Marietta Patricia Leis, seems to invite us to weave common thought made of meditation and translucency, presenting a long papyrus of graphite signs that seems to have no end. Sara Buosco, Juliet Art Magazine
In today’s noisy world, we can become distracted, numb to our deepest natures. The road to authenticity is by its very nature traveled in solitude. It is an internal road that, with patience, can lead deep into the core of our being. As we each embark on the journey to this rich and fertile place, we can discover a common thread of the shared humanity that binds us.
My intention is for my art to be palpable, transmitting a sensation of adventure, beauty and peace. I invite you to travel the undulating Silent Road welcoming your own perceptions and experiences.
Marietta Patricia Leis is an internationally
exhibiting multimedia artist & poet. Originally from New Jersey USA, she has lived & worked in New York City as well as Los Angeles, & is currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Leis’ reductive, expressive visual practice is shaped out of experiments in material process & takes inspiration from the forms of nature, sense of place & the internal landscape. www.mariettaleis.com
Acknowledgments
Text: Marietta Patricia Leis Design: Stefan Jennings Batista Photo credits: Stefan Jennings Batista David E. Vogel Riccardo Grassetti All photographs were taken at the NDI /Highland Theatre, Albuquerque, NM. USA & at the Piazza Mora, Venice Italy © 2020