About
Marcela Szwarc is a Polish-American artist, illustrator and designer.
Their visual work exists at the intersections of ecofeminist thought, magical realism, and Slavic beliefs in apotropaic symbolism, expressed through media such as puppetry, drawing, painting, textiles, writing, and print.
Their upbringing has been influenced by a mix of Slavic cultural practices; pulling from memory and research, they reframe these aesthetics within a contemporary, diasporic context. Marcela completed a Master of Fine Art in 2024 from Concordia University in Montréal, where they were awarded the John & Nick Tedeschi Studio Arts Grant, The Tom Hopkins Memorial Award, and the Concordia University International Tuition Award of Excellence.
Central to their approach is the building of community through art; they prize collaboration and play within their visual practice, which ranges from design projects to collaborative performances and mutual aid work. In 2018, they collaborated with the Center for Urban Pedagogy as a Public Access Design Fellow.
Marcela currently splits their time between Tiohtià:ke / Montréal and New York.
Education
Master of Fine Art - Painting & Drawing
Concordia University, 2024
Bachelor of Fine Art - Graphic Design & Printmaking
Purchase College, SUNY, 2014
Teaching
Part-time Faculty, Drawing
2023-2024, Concordia University
Teaching Assistant, Painting & Drawing
2022-2023, Concordia University
Their visual work exists at the intersections of ecofeminist thought, magical realism, and Slavic beliefs in apotropaic symbolism, expressed through media such as puppetry, drawing, painting, textiles, writing, and print.
Their upbringing has been influenced by a mix of Slavic cultural practices; pulling from memory and research, they reframe these aesthetics within a contemporary, diasporic context. Marcela completed a Master of Fine Art in 2024 from Concordia University in Montréal, where they were awarded the John & Nick Tedeschi Studio Arts Grant, The Tom Hopkins Memorial Award, and the Concordia University International Tuition Award of Excellence.
Central to their approach is the building of community through art; they prize collaboration and play within their visual practice, which ranges from design projects to collaborative performances and mutual aid work. In 2018, they collaborated with the Center for Urban Pedagogy as a Public Access Design Fellow.
Marcela currently splits their time between Tiohtià:ke / Montréal and New York.
Education
Master of Fine Art - Painting & Drawing
Concordia University, 2024
Bachelor of Fine Art - Graphic Design & Printmaking
Purchase College, SUNY, 2014
Teaching
Part-time Faculty, Drawing
2023-2024, Concordia University
Teaching Assistant, Painting & Drawing
2022-2023, Concordia University
- Critical Issues in Painting
- Structure, Optimism, and Ruin: Drawing the Built And the Unbuilt
- Advanced Painting