About the collaboration

Working out of a shared studio space in NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, George Marks and Lisa DiStefano create independent and collaborative pieces inspired by the natural landscape of Arnaudville, Louisiana. In the collaborations, George's subjects are adorned with Lisa's vibrant interpretations of bowerbird nests. The series features work that is layered with various media - often applied to the front and back of the translucent mylar substrate to create depth and texture.

Collaborative Artist Statement: Lisa DiStefano and George Marks

During this period of uncertainty in the world, we found ourselves returning to the things that offer comfort and grounding. Sometimes it was the people around us who provided strength and support. Sometimes it was the environments we inhabit, places that allow us to breathe, reflect, and reconnect with ourselves. And sometimes it was the quiet presence of animals. In this body of work, a gathering of dogs appears in our collaborative piece, offering something simple and powerful: unconditional love. Perhaps this is something we all need right now.

...clusters of trees gather and overlap, forming a kind of nest, an embracing space that offers protection and stillness. At the same time, these trees stand like sentinels, watchful presences that guard and witness.

...the human presence emerges through clothed and unclothed figures that carry both vulnerability and weight of memory and lineage. Some of these figures read as fatherly presences, inhabiting the space as quiet anchors, filling a void while offering a sense of guidance and steadiness.

Across our practices, vulnerability appears in different ways. Sometimes it is present in the honesty of the nude figure, sometimes in gesture and atmosphere, and sometimes in the surface itself, the delicate Belgian linen that absorbs mark, touch, and time. Throughout the work, there remains a tenderness that invites viewers to slow down and feel.

The work is intended to offer a moment of suspension, a space where one might briefly step outside the pressures of time and place. In that pause, the noise of politics and division recedes.

Artist statement: Lisa DiStafano

Although abstracted, I consider myself to be more of a representational, stylized Baroque, expressionist mixed-media artist. I use rich colors and intricate detail in much of my work, which provides an alternative to traditional forms. That said, I do experiment with pure abstraction often with dramatic undertones. I have always been somewhat of an empath, which is both a gift and a curse. It is easy for me to become overwhelmed with emotion. Making art allows me to synthesize those emotions and ultimately see the world through a different lens.  For me, it isn’t just about painting something aesthetically pleasing but having a unique perspective on the world and sharing that perspective with others through my work.

‍Artist statement: George Marks

I am a contradiction. My work is simultaneously ordered and spontaneous. Carelessness and rigid geometry mingle on the canvas. Passages of drawing in my work range from sensitively rendered figuration to loose, impetuous scrawls. My palette is generally warm and harmonious, but searing, thin stripes of color may awaken the calm. All of my pieces are deliberately orchestrated to fit together into a continuous installation, and yet each is also an improvisation. My work ranges from abstract landscapes to sensitively rendered figuration.