ARTIST STATEMENT
Marika (she/her) is an artist in Los Angeles. After leaving a 15-year career in fashion, she took the proverbial leap into her lifelong passion for art and design. Marika’s art is a personal and raw reflection of her own emotional journey: chaos, struggle, pain, fear, hope, strength, courage and ultimately voices at war with each other. She hopes the vulnerability in her work will contribute to a safe and open space for like-minded souls to feel seen and heard.
What art classes did you take while at Crossroads? Drawing, photography, pottery.
How did Crossroads help to shape or influence you as an artist? Crossroads instilled in me the equal importance of creativity and academic learning. I always felt as though my interests in art were fostered and encouraged. Among so many talented classmates, I just wish I had had the confidence to stick with it longer and with less self-judgment!
Marika Wagle '96
We Dissent, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 30"
$1,250
"We Dissent" was created in the summer of 2020, a time when "social distancing" was still a fairly novel term, and we were all quarantined in our homes when we saw the video of George Floyd's murder. There was a heavy feeling of loneliness, as seen in the painting by the delicate connections holding us all together. Yet a sense of collective revolution emerged, the voice of the people dissenting to the status quo of racism and oppression. An irony existed between the social unity of collective dissent we felt and the physical separateness we experienced.
marikawagledesign.com
@marikawagle
Marika Wagle '96
Back the F*%# Off , 2020
Acrylic on wood pane
18" x 24"
$950
"Back the F*%# Off" stems from the building rage that I and so many women feel after processing sexual assault. Passing through the stages of shame, fear and sadness, a woman is left with anger and a desire to take back control. Out of the darkness emerges the power she feels in asserting her boundaries, using her voice and speaking her truth.
marikawagledesign.com
@marikawagle