Marsha Farley's sculptures begin where other people's discarded objects end. At the thrift store, the surplus stores, the junk yard, discount hardware stores... Farley shops for the raw materials, the main requirements being that the objects have an inspiring shape, and she will require hundreds, maybe thousands of these objects/ingredients. Oil can spouts, wooden knobs, electronic resistors, left over mahogany room dividers find their way first into Farley's sketches and then into wildly creative, colorful sculptures.
At home, Farley works on paper, variations on a theme involving a favorite collection of objects. Then at her studio, Farley discusses designs, patterns, colors and engineering ideas with assistants, Ralph Corsiglia and Mark Fellman. Every table is alive with parts, works in progress and possibilities. While in the midst of one series, Farley's new ideas are hatching, and previous projects come to a close.
Marsha Farley's life is about making art. Her career as an artist has spanned more than 50 years, with few distractions. Her prolific creativity and highly disciplined lifestyle have produced an enormous body of work, earned several noted exhibits and a place in a number of private, corporate and museum collections nationwide.
Marsha Farley's art is about harmony between industry and art, technology and humanity. Our culture's discarded objects are recycled, resolved, resurrected into objects of beauty, wonder, fascination and invention. Could Farley's visionary approach to her materials provide a clue to the massive waste disposal crisis facing our communities nationwide?