Maren Hassinger
1947–
Introduction
Maren Hassinger (born Maren Louise Jenkins in 1947) is an African-American artist and educator whose career spans four decades. Hassinger uses sculpture, film, dance, performance art, and public art to explore the relationship between the natural world and industrial materials. She incorporates everyday materials in her art, like wire rope, plastic bags, branches, dirt, newspaper, garbage, leaves, and cardboard boxes. Hassinger has stated that her work “focuses on elements, or even problems—social and environmental—that we all share, and in which we all have a stake…. I want it to be a humane and humanistic statement about our future together.”
Trained in dance, Hassinger transitioned to making sculpture and visual art in college. Hassinger received her MFA in Fiber Arts from UCLA in 1973. She was the director emeritus of the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art for ten years. She currently lives and works in New York City.
Wikidata identifier
Q16115301
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed September 25, 2024.
Introduction
Known for works made of wire rope, usually frayed, unraveled, bent, or twisted, appears frequently in Hassinger's sculptures and installations. The material's characteristics make it similar to fiber, allowing the artist to work and shape it to approximate natural forms and plant life. Hassinger has long been interested in nature and its relationship to industry. Since 1997 she has been director of the Rinehart School of Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, sculptor
ULAN identifier
500056036
Names
Maren Hassinger, Maren Louise Jenkins
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed September 25, 2024.