statement

My works pull the viewer into an intimate relationship with an object; that of really seeing something instead of just observing it. My life-size or larger photo suggestive presentation--whether the subject is a vintage western saddle, animal skull or a nude figure study--replicates life down to the most minute detail and although the viewer realizes it's just a work of art, they are drawn closer to investigate the rendering's accuracy. I strive for the object to be convincing from not only far away but up very very close as well.

I persuade the observer to study an object the way I do when I'm creating my work, and it's a way of "seeing" that he or she quite possibly has never before considered. Observing something means recognizing form and dimension, or how light falls on an object to create shape and shadow. "Seeing Something" demands intense inspection and consideration of every nuance, the fold and flaw, bump and bruise, cut and scratch, down to the very last stitch or hair follicle, and it's that introspection which grants relevance and realism to everything in our world.

I have found that my medium of Graphite on Mylar allows me the accuracy and control that I haven't found in other drawing or painting media. The graphite literally floats on the Mylar surface. This allows me to manipulate and move the grayness around on the surface, eliminating stroke and mark and creating somewhat of a photographic smoothness and tonality.

Many of my works are "Large". Very Large! I work large so that details that are normally missed or are impossible to see with the naked eye become vivid caverns of light and shadow opening a microscopic vantage point of the subject for the viewer.

bio

born: 1955, San Antonio, Texas

education

Texas Christian University, BFA 1979
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA 2012

selected publications

Manifest, INDA8, Cincinnati, OH. p. ?-?, 2012
Manifest, INDA7, Cincinnati, OH. p. ?-?, 2011
Manifest, INDA6, Cincinnati, OH. p. 87-90, 2010

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Red Arrow Gallery, Until Death Do Us Part, Dallas TX (2013)
Benedun Fine Arts Gallery, 
Waynseburg University, Waynesburg, PA, One Color of Gray-Drawings by Marshall Harris, (2013)
The Floating Gallery, Fort Worth TX, Of Carcass & Carrion, (2012)
Velvet Box Gallery,  Fort.Worth TX, I Draw Naked People, (2011)

selected group shows

Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington DE, Young Country, (2012)
Mary Tomás Gallery & Circuit 12, Dallas, TX, Lightning Strikes Twice, (2012)
TCU Moudy Gallery, Fort Worth, TX, New School- New Faculty Exhibit, (2012)
Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati OH, Out Of The Gray - Works in Graphite, (2012)