Marissa Strickland

Originally from Washington state, but currently working in Salt Lake City, Utah, Marissa Strickland explores emotional growth and healing through her surrealist influenced oil paintings. She recently earned her her Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of Utah in Spring of 2023.

Strickland experiments with the ways growth in nature relate to the emotional growth of human beings. By giving repressed memories a visual form to exist within her work, she communicates a sense of strength and resilience as plants interact with the flesh of her female figures. Marissa has won several awards including the George Stillman Award for Achievement in Art, as well as the Chair’s Choice Award from Central Washington University.

UT

Student

After growing up in a very small country town in Central Washington, I was not used to there being a strong art community to grow and explore with. The thing I love about Utah, specifically Salt Lake City, is the art community. I had never done a gallery stroll before moving here, and I was amazed by how many people from all over Utah were interested in attending and seeing the new exhibitions. The beauty of the landscape here is also something I am inspired by daily in my work. Because I communicate growth and resilience in my paintings and how nature can teach us these things, I enjoy spending time outside and in the mountains.