My Statement
I create art inspired by my life experience, informed by my travels, historical and current events and to record and express my fascination with the play of space, color, line, shape and movement. My work ranges from the abstract exploration of color, shape and line to the surreal, I blend various styles to create work that challenges the viewer to pause and reflect on my creations. To create my works, I work on canvas, paper, or stone, which makes me a painter, illustrator, printmaker and sculptor. I start by deciding what I want to express, drawing on an memory, an image or event that inspires me. I've been influenced and inspired by classic artist such as Honeré Daumier and Goya, and contemporary artists such as Phillip Gaston, Richard Diebenkorn and the Colorfield School, including Peter Bradley. I create art to express and explore my experience of life though whimsy, humor drawing through a critical eye.
Biography
A. Michael Marzolla is a Santa Barbara, California-based artist whose work ranges from the surreal to the abstract. He works on canvas, paper, or stone, which makes me a painter, illustrator, printmaker, and sculptor.
Early Life and Childhood Days
Michael was born in Oakland, CA., and spent his early childhood in the Bay Area.
- In 1958, his family moved to Rome, Italy, which inspired his artistic endeavors at an early age.
- He returned to the States in 1962 and attended high school in Long Beach, CA., where he became the cartoonist and illustrator for the school newspaper.
- After high school, Michael served in the US Coast Guard, and then majored in art at Humboldt State University, where he studied under Jim Anderson, Leslie Price, and Stephen Daley.
- He graduated in 1973 with a degree in Fine Arts.
Extensive Work Experience
He served in the Peace Corps from 1973 to 1977, in Guatemala, Central America. Michael’s assignment included developing educational illustrations and cartoons. After the Peace Corps, he attended graduate school at UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts, and majored in non-formal international education.
He then worked in Lesotho, Southern Africa, with a local community education organization, and his assignment included the training of the organization’s local artist/illustrator team. Michael has lived in Santa Barbara since 1983. Michael had a 30-year career as an educator with the University of California.
Exhibitions and Recognitions
He is now focused on painting, drawing, and photography.
- He exhibits with the Santa Barbara Art Association, the Abstract Art Collective, and the Santa Barbara Sculpture Guild.
- Michael Marzolla has won recognition and awards for his work at various shows and exhibitions locally and nationally, such as a first prize in the Goleta Arts Festival, an honorable mention at the Channing Peake Gallery, as well as honorable mentions at the Art at the Jewish Community Center and the Faulkner Gallery SEE benefit.
- He has held various commissions throughout his career, most recently for the University of South Florida and the US Naval Base on San Nicolas Island.
- His work has been exhibited in commercial galleries and in private collections in the United States, Asia, and Europe.
- His work is shown at the WACO Gallery in Eureka, California, Gallery 113, The Voice Gallery in Santa Barbara, at the Carpinteria Art Center Gallery in Carpinteria, California, and the Dan Weldon Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York.