Featured Exhibition:

Marsha Balian, Walking a Dog Named Cat, 12 x 12

Marsha Balian

AUTOFICTION

Jan 16 - Mar 1, 2025
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Artist's Reception
​Jan 25th, 1-4pm

Artists' Talk with Mac Mechem
Sat, Feb 22nd, starting at 2 pm

First in Show
Sarah Bass review for Midbrow.org
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Marsha Balian: AUTOFICTION

Check out First in Show, Sarah Bass' review of Autofiction for Midbrow: 
"Oakland artist Marsha Balian’s collages offer an alternate reality, one in which fantastical histories and cat-men can coexist."
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Mixed media artist Marsha Balian admits to difficulty following instructions (unless she really has to).  She is self-taught and frequently invents her own techniques.  Her work has a strong narrative quality and incorporates found objects combined with drawing, painting and collage.  Since invention doesn't require strict adherence to rules, her art avoids what might be literal and attempts to engage the imagination of the viewer.  Humor is never far behind.
 
Marsha Balian's artwork has been shown throughout the Bay area, many parts of the country and internationally including Portugal, France, Slovenia, Germany and Hungary.  Her work is placed in hospitals and a library. She has been featured in several publications including Photo Trouvee Magazine, Woven Tale Press, Oakland Magazine, West Marin Review and 48 Hills Magazine.  Her work is included in "Collage by Women: 50 Women Collage Artists of the World" a book published in Spain that has enjoyed huge international success.  Most recently, her work appeared in the international journal out of London, Contemporary Collage Magazine.

Read the 48 Hills interview with Marsha Balian.

AUTOFICTION 
Marsha Balian Statement
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Autofiction is a literary term describing work that blends fictional and autobiographical elements in writing.  It can blur the lines between events in real life, and fictional creation.  It is often seen as an opportunity for creative exploration of self.
 
In my experience, there is always an element of autobiography in all works of art regardless of the form or medium, so it seemed a fitting title for this series of new work.  Whether we are the midwife, or the parent pushing out a baby, what we produce comes inescapably from ourselves. From our lived experiences, our struggles, losses and joys.  As Federico Fellini, the Italian film maker said: "All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography".
 
Whether or not it is conscious, or a choice, whatever we produce carries our own DNA encoded within it.  It can be the distillation of our histories, or an attempt to resolve an issue.  It can review challenges or express our need to explore and experiment.  Even work that is totally abstract is on some level autobiographical.
 
Perhaps all art forms, then, are directly or indirectly, attempts at telling our own stories. In writing, words are tasked with conveying meaning.  In visual art, that narrative could be described as a form of non-verbal expression. 
 
Since expression can't duplicate reality, the term autofiction is a good descriptor.  Our work as artists is always going to include fiction. We are obliged to make  what it is that we want to be seen by the viewer.  Regardless of what our work depicts, or how it is represented, we are in a sense telling the story of our selves.
 
In preparing this work, I didn't have a specific theme.  My only goal was to experiment and let the work tell me where it wanted to go. It may share ineffable things about me, but my hope is that the viewer can access whatever stories it conjures for them.
 

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More about Marsha Balian

Selected Exhibitions
 
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2025
Autofiction, Transmission Gallery, Oakland
2023
Memory and Other Inventions with Joy Broom, North Berkeley Wealth Management
Face Value, Cedar Street Gallery, Berkeley
2022
Found Not Lost, Mixed Media show with Katie McCann, Artworks Downtown, San Rafael
Scenic Route, Transmission Gallery, Oakland
2020
A Walk in the Dark with Patricia Sonnino, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland
2019
A Twist of Fate with Linda Ellinwood, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland
2018
About Face, with Deborah Benioff Friedman, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland
Art with Marsha Balian and Jacquie Cole, SoBu, Oakland
By Implication with Joy Broom, Gearbox Gallery
Marsha Balian Mixed Media, Town Books, San Anselmo
2017
Otherwise, Mixed Media Collage, with Sherry Parker, Gearbox Gallery
2016
Art Wall, Shige Sushi, Cotati Ca
2015
Letters Home- Winter Art Show, Thomson Hall Gallery, Sausalito Ca
Fish Tales with Katie McCann, Art Beat Gallery, Berkeley Ca
2014
Fabrications and Other Notions, Art Space Gallery of the Women's Resource Center, CPMC, San Francisco
2013
Flying Fish and Random Birds, Montclair Gallery Oakland
2011
Pez/Pescado, Rockridge Library, Oakland
2010
Small Works, Garage Gallery, Berkeley
New Work, McCue Gallery 83, Orinda Ca.
 
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Layers: The Art of Contemporary Collage, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD
2024
Visual Poetry and Color, Ferrari Gallery, Dallas Tx
Among the Trees, Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland
Surrealism Centennial, FOG (Far Out Gallery), San Francisco
Pint Size 2: Small Scale Artwork, Transmission Gallery, Oakland
Sculpture and Assemblage, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael
Personages, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, Ca.
2023
Off the Shelf, a show of Altered Books, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley Ca
Contemporary Art: Folklore, Fakelore & Personal Myths, Bonita Museum of Art, San Diego, Ca.
The Art of Story, Village Theater and Gallery, Danville Ca.
19th Annual Magnitude Seven- Small Works Show, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Collage :Deconstruct/Reconstruct, Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, Ca
Story: Real or Not so Much, Escondido arts, Escondido Ca.
Flesh and Frame, Figurative art and Portraiture, The Barn, Woodland Ca
Pint Size: Small Scale Assemblage, Transmission Gallery, Oakland
Seen and Imagined, Gallery Route One, Pt Reyes Station, Ca.
2022
Telling Stories, Shoebox Art, Los Angeles, Ca.
Voyage, Arc Gallery, San Francisco
Women Making Their Mark, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley Ca.
Art to Amuse and Delight, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, Ca.
Pop Up Show, Marinwood Community Center, San Rafael
Face to Face, ARC Gallery, San Francisco Ca.
Women Rising, The Drawing Room, San Francisco, Ca.
Left Coast Juried Annual, Sanchez Center for the Arts, Pacifica Ca.
2021
Virtual Holiday Show, Arts Benicia, Benicia Ca
Women Making Their Mark, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley Ca
Textures, Patterns, Shapes and Forms, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach Ca.
Altered And Reimagined, Danville Art Gallery, Danville Ca.
Shift, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette Ca.
Home, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
12th Annual Altered Book Show, Marin Contemporary Museum of Art, Novato Ca
Arts of a Community, Arts Benicia, Benicia Ca.
2020
10X10X10 Tieton International Small Works, Tieton Arts, Tieton Washington
Me to Myself, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley Ca
Small Footprint, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette Ca.
2019
Tiny, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
It's A Wonderful Life, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette Ca.
Super Heroes’ Bash, Art Auction, Arts Benicia, Benicia Ca
A Book About Death: The Last Waltz, 10th Anniversary Exhibit, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York
Bay Area Women Artists, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley Ca.
Kaos: International Festival of Collage, Kranj Slovenia
10th Annual Marin Moca Altered Book Exhibit, Marin Museum of Art, Novato Ca.
Pop Up at the Bank, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette Ca.
Switching Gears, Axis Gallery, Sacramento Ca.
If Only I Had Time to Tell You, Gallery Route One, Pt Reyes Station, Ca.
2018
Small Works, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette a
Arts Up, Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek Ca
Elevate, Adobe Gallery, Hayward Ca.
Altered  Book Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato Ca.
2017
Gatherings Show of Collage: Vita Collage, Petaluma Ca.
Memento Mori, White Buffalo Gallery, Sacramento Ca.
33rd Annual Juried Exhibition, National Collage Society, Union Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
Magical Realism, Arts Benicia, Benicia Ca.
Delicate Balance, The Gallery at 48 Natoma, Folsom Ca.
Marvelous: An International Show of Collage, Sebastopol Center for the Arts
2016
Big is the New Small, Nisa Touchon Gallery, Santa Fe NM
Collector Gallery, Berkeley Ca
Gravity of the Heart, Art Brokers, San Rafael
2015
Collage: Session and Studio Selections, Red Dot Gallery, Sacramento, Ca
Fragments: Art of Collage, Arts Benicia, Ca (my image used in publicity
The Altered Book Show, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato Ca.
2014
Small Works, Artworks Downtown, San Rafael Ca
International Collage, Highway 20 Gallery, Lucern Ca
American Folk Art Festival, Napa Ca
(n)collage, Icehouse Gallery, Petaluma Ca
Conversation, Pop Up show, San Francisco
2013
Fetish, a Pop Up Show, San Francisco
Fall into Mixed Media, Avalon Salon, San Rafael
Bay Area Women Artists, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, Ca.
2012
50-50 juried show, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica Ca.
The Self-Portrait Project, Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn NY
In Print, Warehouse Gallery, Oakland Ca
Intersection: World Culture in the East Bay, 510Arts, Oakland Ca
Telling Stories Through Art, Diablo Valley College Art Gallery, Pleasant Hill Ca.
2011
Shine, Berkely Art Center, Berkeley Ca
Big Deal, Somarts, San Francisco Ca
Pro Arts Box show, Pro Arts, Oakland Ca
National Collage Society Juried Online Show
Oakland Ballet Gala, Oakland Ca
Axis  Dance Company Silent Auction, Oakland Ca.
2010
Twisted, Chiseled and Fired, Village Theater and Gallery, Danville Ca
No Big Heads, University Gallery, Anchorage, AK
The Tao of Duality: Self Portraits, Brava Center for the Arts, San Francisco, Ca
2009
Imagination Navigation, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Co
A Book About Death, Emily Harvey Gallery, New York, NY
Figures and Face, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto
Altogether: Collage and Assemblage, Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz, Ca.
2008
Lobby Exhibition, 525 Market St, San Francisco
Itty Bitty Invitational Show, Yes Gallery, Warren RI
Arts for Aids Auction, UCSF San Francisco, Ca
At Play with Four Artists, Community Gallery, Berkeley, Ca.
Seeing Music, Addison Street Windows, Berkeley Ca.
Waste Not Want Not, Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont Ca.
SFDC ArtiQues, Hinc Showroom Galleria, San Francisco, Ca
 
Public Collections:
The Ontological Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Kaiser Hospital, San Leandro Ca
Hayward Library, Hayward Ca.
 
Awards;
Best of Oakland Intersection: World Culture in the East Bay
Honorable Mention: National Collage Society
Honorable Mention: No Big Heads: Self Portraits, Anchorage AK.
 
Publications and Articles:
Contemporary Collage Magazine, Issue 30, member interview
Within Wood Panels, Marsha Balian Weaves Intimate Found Object Tales, 48 Hills Independent San Francisco News and Culture
Photo Trouvee Magazine issues 4 & 8
Artful Memories, by Jane Chipp and Jack Ravi
East Bay Artists, eastbaybook.com
Contemporary Collage Magazine, first issue
Memories of Love, Photo Trouvee Magazine
A Twist of Fate at GearBox Gallery, review by DeWitt Cheng. East Bay Express
The Woven Tale Press, Issue VII
West Marin Review, volume 9
Collage by Women/Collage Firmado Por Mujeres, 50 Women Collage Artist of the World, Promopress, Spain
Marsha Balian Brings a Hunter-Gatherer Approach, Oakland Magazine, 2018
Dada Centennial Day of the Dead, Museum of Collage, Santa Fe, NM
Oneiric 1, International Showcase of Collage, Lisbon Portugal
Collage in International Contemporary Art, Kepiras Art Magazine (Hungarian Language)
Marsha Balian, Artist Portfolio, Kolaj Magaizine
West Marin Review, cover art,
A Life in Two Dimensions: Marsha Balian Nurse Practitioner and Artist, Scrubs Magazine