Featured artworks: Organically Inspired
IN THE STUDIO
What happens when recycled magazine pages are transformed through water, movement, and imagination? Marilyn McRae’s featured works—Oceanic Pods, Oceanic Currents and Organic Study 1 through 4—explore a more organic approach to her paper art. Recycled magazine pages are soaked, softened, and carefully folded by hand, allowing the paper to move into flowing, biomorphic forms that echo shapes found in nature.
Oceanic Pods, detail, explores the flowing forms and layered movement found in nature. The sweeping lines and undulating layers suggest the movement of water—currents shifting, converging, and carrying energy through the ocean.
A PROCESS THAT IS BOTH INTUITIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL
Rather than creating rigid geometric structures, Marilyn works with the natural movement of the softened paper. Layers curve, loop, ripple, and intertwine, creating compositions that feel almost alive. The resulting forms suggest petals, leaves, currents, landscapes, and other organic structures without directly imitating them.
As the paper responds to folding and shaping, unexpected forms emerge. Printed words, colors, and imagery from the original magazine pages become subtle details within the composition, adding another layer of discovery.
These works reveal a different side of Marilyn’s creative process—one that embraces fluidity, movement, and the unpredictable nature of the material.
Oceanic Currents, detail, captures the constant movement and layered rhythms of the sea.
Organic Study 2, detail, is a study in form and texture with sweeping lines, organic curves, and unexpected pockets of depth, allowing the material to take on a life of its own.