Marina Ross mines ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in ‘Evergreen’

The Cornell College Peter Paul Luce Gallery will present “Evergreen” by Chicago-based painter Marina Ross from Oct. 21 to Nov. 20. 

Ross uses the visual symbolism of the iconic American movie “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) to explore cultural and personal memory, grief, and performance. After a traumatic personal loss, she began to mine the idyllic film to depict her inability to process the impact of the event. Ross uses a softened and muted color palette to suggest a suspension of disbelief, mirroring cinema’s ability to construct an alternative reality. Using film stills, and AI/personal reconstructions, the resulting images—often dreamlike, fleeting, or ambiguous—indirectly reference the film, asking viewers to fill in the gaps with their own memory. In consideration of the legacy and countless remakes of “The Wizard of Oz,” Ross offers a version of the film as an enduring form of collective memory.

Ross is an artist and instructor based in Chicago. She earned an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Iowa in 2018 after earning a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012. Her work has been exhibited in New York at Sugarlift, Friday Studio Gallery, Art Helix, Highline Stages, and throughout Chicago at Goldfinch Gallery, Roman Susan, Heaven Gallery, The Franklin, Sulk, ARTRUSS, and Baby Blue Gallery, among others. 

She has received grant funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Projects (DCASE) in Chicago, the Illinois Arts Council, Loyola University Chicago, and The Stanley Award for International Graduate Research from the University of Iowa to attend the Saint Petersburg Artist Residency in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her work is in numerous public and private collections, and she teaches art at Loyola University Chicago.

Ross will discuss her work at an Artist Lecture on Friday, Oct. 25, at 3:30 p.m. in McWethy Hall’s Lecture Hall, Room 222. Following the lecture, a reception for “Evergreen” will take place in the Luce Gallery from 4 to 6 p.m. Both the lecture and reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday–Friday 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. and Sunday 2–4 p.m.

For additional information, contact Luce Gallery Coordinator Brooks Cashbaugh (bcashbaugh@cornellcollege.edu) or visit Marina Ross’ website (http://www.marina-ross.com/).