Artist's Statement

I see my sculptures as poets celebrating life's passion and nobility. They represent the mysteries and the sanctity of daily life in pure lines and elongated style. Their forms are mostly female figures communicating the feminine spirit of nurturing, tenderness, and strength. When sculpting wood, I experience a constant mystical flow of rhythm, harmony and effort. The ebb and flow of this process gives fruition, a physical definition, to the unwritten poetry of the wood.

The challenge of sculpting gives the most sense to my life, because it perpetuates my dreams and allows me to share the wood's enchanted poetry with others.

Artist's Bio

Marika's sculptures can be recognized from afar because of their graceful and elongated style with pure and bare lines. Approaching her sculptures one often experiences sensations of inner joy, spirituality and serenity.

Not until 1996 did Marika focus her creativity. While having a sculpture made by Francois Sanon, a master in fine wood sculpture, he realized from their discussions that she had potential as an artist. From 1996 to 2001, Marika studied under Sanon's guidance. From 2001 to 2005, Marika spent her time in Montreal and New York City developing her skills, exhibiting her sculptures and worked with Sanon during his visits to New York.

She won Best of Show at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center’s Seventh Annual Judged Membership Show in 2007.  The judges stated: “Attracted to the refreshing simplicity.  Wonderful confidence in the handling of the material.  The integrity of the original piece of wood has been elegantly maintained.  It becomes more complex as it is viewed and it's full of surprises.” 

Selected awards include, fourth place in 2002 and 2003 at the artist exhibition, Rencontre des Arts, held near Montreal, Canada.  This annual event is primarily dedicated to sculpture with over seventy professional sculptors exhibiting 750 sculptures.  In New York, The Pen and Brush, an international membership organization founded over 110 years ago for women who are professionally active in the arts, awarded Marika first prize in the 2003 African American Art Exhibition.  Her sculpture Nesting won second prize at The Hill Country Arts Foundation 2008 National Juried Exhibition in Ingram, TX.

In 2005, Marika moved to Seguin, Texas not far from San Antonio and Austin.

The 12 years of Marika’s evolution in the art of sculpture has not only been a period of learning and perfecting, but also, and above all, a time of introspection of her own femininity.  Here, she discovered a wellspring of creativity and imprinted her art with a dimension and a transcendence that is seen in her sculptures. 

Artist's Resume

Selected Awards:

2008

• Second Place,  The Hill Country Arts Foundation 2008 National Juried Exhibition, Ingram, TX
• Honorable Mention, Art Nouveau Gallery & Studio, in cooperation with The American Cancer Society, A Tribute to Women, Myrtle Beach SC

2007

• Best of Show, Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, Images- Seventh Annual Judged Membership Show, Kerrville, TX
• Best of Show, Seguin Oakwood Art League, Bling Bling Show, Seguin, TX

 

2003

• Fourth Place, Rencontre des Arts, St. Jean-sur-Richilieu, Québec
• First Prize, 2003 African American Art Exhibition, The Pen and Brush, Inc., New York, NY

2002

• Fourth Place, Rencontre des Arts, St. Jean-sur-Richilieu, Québec

Selected Media Events and Publications:

2008

• Preston Contemporary Art Center Xhibit Catalog Fall 2008, Critical Commentary, by Mary Anne Redding, curator of photography, New Mexico History Museum, Mesilla, NM, Fall 2008
• San Antonio Express News, Vintage House has a Brush with History, by Betty Taylor, San Antonio, TX, March 22, 2008

2007

• Texas Highways Magazine, Small Town, Big Art, by Maxine Mayes, Austin, TX, October, 2007
• Seguin Daily News, Artist’s Wooden Sculptures Celebrate Life, by Lori Steindorf, Seguin, TX, August 31, 2007
• Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, Local Artist Finds Poetry in Wood Sculptures, by Michael Cary, Seguin, TX, July 10, 2007

2006

• The Times-Sentinel, Marika Sculptures Open Studio is Insightful and Inspirational, by Joey Jelenc, Lockhart, TX, December 11, 2006

2001

• The Roosevelt Island Wire, Artist Marika Bordes: Finding the Story in the Wood, by Francine Lange, New York, NY, November 3, 2001 Issue: nyc10044.com/wire/2206/bordes.html

2000

• Télévision Nationale d'Haiti, Portrait of an Artist, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Selected Exhibitions:

2009

• The Elk River Area Arts Alliance, Fourteenth Annual National Juried Art Show, Sherburne County Government Center, Elk River, MN, February-March
• Texas Lutheran University, Schuech Fine Arts Center, Solo Exhibition, Seguin, TX, January-February

2008

• Cincinnati Art Club, Viewpoint 2008 40th Annual Juried Art Competition, Juror: Dr. Julie Aronson, Curator of American Painting and Sculptor, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH, November
• Preston Contemporary Art Center, Fall Exhibition, Mesilla, NM, October-December
• The Hill Country Arts Foundation, 2008 National Juried Exhibition, Ingram, TX, September-October
• Art Nouveau Gallery & Studio, exhibition of the prize winners from A Tribute to Women, Myrtle Beach SC, July-September
• Art Nouveau Gallery & Studio, in cooperation with The American Cancer Society, A Tribute to Women, Myrtle Beach SC, July
• Las Vegas Arts Council, Eighteenth Annual National Juried Art Exhibition, Faces of Woman, Las Vegas, NM, March-April

2007

• The Hill Country Arts Foundation, First Bi-Annual 3D Juried Exhibition, Ingram, TX, September-October
• Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, Images- Seventh Annual Judged Membership Show, Kerrville, TX, June-July

2006

• Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, Best of the Best Membership Show, Kerrville, TX, December-January
• Artist's Open Studio, Seguin, TX, December

2004

• Open Studio, Juvenal Reis Studios, New York, NY, June

2003

• La Guardia Gallery, New York, NY, November
• Rencontre des Arts, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, November
• Pen and Brush, 57th Annual Sculpture & Medallic Art Exhibition, New York, NY, March - April
• Pen and Brush African American Art Exhibition, New York, NY, February - March

2002

• Rencontre des Arts, St. Jean-sur-Richilieu, Québec, October
• Rivercross Window Gallery, New York, NY, October-November (solo)
• Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association Gallery, New York, NY, February -April
• Pen and Brush African American Art Exhibition, New York, NY, February-March

Education:

1996 to 2001

• Sculpting from Francois Sanon, master in fine wood sculpture, (An example of Francois Sanon's work is in the Special Collections Department, the William L. Bryant West Indies Collection, of the University of Central Florida.)

 

Contact Artist

Marika Bordes
E-mail: marika.bordes@tsos.org
Tel. 830-433-4315
Website: www.marikasculpture.com
Blog: www.marikaarts.wordpress.com