We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cristina Marian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cristina below.

Cristina, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Sixth grade was a significant year for me. I won First Prize in an International Competition for Figurative Art organized in Italy. I remember holding the diploma and gold medal, wondering what to do with them. Until then, growing up in communist Romania, instead of being told something positive, I was more often told what I was doing wrong. But then suddenly I found my work and talent recognized and praised in an international field. “I’m doing something well here,” I thought, “I should keep doing it.”

At the time, I was taking an art class taught by an inspiring, caring, and outstanding teacher named Elena Stoica. She encouraged my artistic sensibilities and guided me towards a career in art. It was through her feedback on my paintings and my work ethic that I ended up pursuing the career I am in now.

I must have been twelve years old by then. I didn’t know exactly what an art career entailed and was often told that it was not a serious and stable job to pursue. Yet to me, somehow it felt like the only way to move forward in life. Making art brought me the most joy, and I had been rewarded internationally for it. I’m grateful to have had a fantastic art teacher and thankful to my parents for allowing me to pursue this vocation.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in a small village in communist Romania. As a child I spent most days outside, exploring nature and dreaming about the cultures and worlds that I had only heard of. I had no access to them, not even through books. Romania was closed to the world. My dream was to be a truck driver because, in my mind, they were the only ones allowed to travel outside the borders.

When I was ten, I witnessed the violent Romanian revolution. Later I saw and lived through many changes as my country navigated towards democracy. I didn’t understand what was happening. I felt fear, but at the same time, I felt as if my dreams of discovering the world now had the possibility of coming true.
As mentioned earlier, this was when I attended the art classes taught by Elena Stoica. As more prizes followed, I felt that art was my life path. By the end of eighth grade, I left my family and village and moved by myself to Bucharest to study art. When I was 24, I earned a BA from the National University of Fine Arts “Nicolae Grigorescu,” in Bucharest (2003). In 2013, life brought me to the US, and by 2022, I had earned an MFA from Montana State University in Bozeman. Montana has been my home ever since.

I am a visual artist living and working in Whitehall, Montana, a rural town of about 1,000 people. I make paintings, sculptures, and installations. Experiential in nature and in response to life’s complexities, I combine images, conversations, feelings, and memories into visual narratives or abstract imagery. With a personal, fundamental and universal character, I explore themes such as time, space, home, the sense of place and belonging, community, and transitional moments. In my paintings, I play between representation and abstraction, unfixed and concrete, and confusion and wonder.

Some of my latest work addresses the affordable housing crisis in Montana. It tells the stories of our Montana neighborhoods, where the past, present, and future coexist and reflect one another. They portray the intersection of familiar and unfamiliar, natural versus man-made, and the mutual feeling of unpredictability in us all.

By channeling the same enthusiasm a child has when discovering new things, I combine media in innovative and unconventional ways. By diversifying the techniques and materials used in my practice, I learn what each one has to offer. I’ve enjoyed making public works such as the Changing Time, Changing Place murals and sculpture, commissioned by Tinworks Art in Bozeman, Montana, and the Feeling Welcome mural, commissioned by Zootown Arts in Missoula, Montana. I also built a tiny home structure made of pallets and scrap wood for an interactive installation commissioned by Echo Arts Gallery and the Bozeman Art District.

I am currently getting ready for my upcoming museum and gallery exhibitions while taking care of my little family, including our eleven-month-old baby.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of art is the deep connection I experience with the viewers, artists, and the people I meet along the way.

To me, art is about connection, self-expression, communication, constant growth, perseverance, and resilience, as well as learning how to be comfortable with living in the unknown. Art is my way of processing and living life, and it helps identify my place in the world.

Making and sharing art through exhibitions has opened up new paths. In the beginning, it helped me imagine how different parts of the world looked; later it offered the chance to travel globally, learn about various cultures, and connect with wonderful people.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Emigrating to the US was a radical life-changing experience. I had to assimilate a new language, culture, and habits and live an unknown life, which was turbulent at times. I started from zero in a new world, and it taught me a great deal about resilience, flexibility, discipline, perseverance, and the power of art.

Giving up my practice wasn’t an option, so the only way I could do it was by starting small. I sold hand-painted spinning tops and greeting cards at the farmers’ market. With my first money, I bought art supplies to make more work. My first solo show in the US followed soon after, in a petite Bozeman gallery. More sales meant buying more supplies, and soon I was renting a studio and exhibiting on a larger scale. Next, I pursued an MFA, and now I’m excited about showing my work in other states across the country and working towards my upcoming museum solo exhibition.

Recently I became a mother and, while practicing art in a small town new to me, found myself in a place where I needed to pivot. Despite the isolation, I’m learning to sustain and grow my art practice and live a creative life while caring for my baby. It is a rich and empowering time for which I’m hugely grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cristinamarian.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristinamarianart/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cristinamarianart8910

Image Credits
Nathaniel Bailey for: Marian-Portrait Marian-1 Marian-2 Marian-7 Zach Hoffman for: Marian-4 Greta Hagg for: Marian-8 Cristina Marian_ Marian-3 Marian-5 Marian-6