Look Closer – Fiona Barr

June 22 – August 4

Cushman Gallery for Young Artists

Art is about looking – both on the part of the artist creating the work and the viewer who consumes it. An artist often observes her subjects in detail, carefully creating marks to correspond with what she sees in the physical world as well as within her mind. Viewers often discover something new each time they look at a piece of art, both in the piece itself or in the meaning and intention behind it.

In Look Closer, artist Fiona Barr uses a variety of media to create portraits, figures, and scenes from an array of source material and her imagination. Through the layers of paint, oil pastel, colored pencil, Posca marker, string, gears, beads, puffy paint, washi tape and more, you may see city skylines, bridges, vans, bored angels, spiders, hidden codes, messages and phrases, koi fish and butterflies. These details are used to create meaning and provide an intricate balance to the comprehensive pieces. As you view the work in this exhibit, we encourage you to spend a few extra moments to discover the small details and think about what they may mean, and of course, we urge you to Look Closer.

Fiona Barr recently completed 8th grade at Marblehead Veterans Middle School. Art has been a part of Fiona’s life from a very early age, and she has always looked for ways to express her creativity through a variety of media, both physical and digital. Her most recent interests include mixed media works, digital animation, comic book art, sculpture and illustration. In 2023, Fiona designed the winning logo for the Marblehead Festival of the Arts, becoming the youngest logo winner in the Festival’s history.