All Kiva Artists
Kiva Fine Art
El Centro de Santa Fe
102 East Water Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501505-820-7413
505-820-7414 (fax)
info@kivaindianart.com
Marie Barbera
Marie Barbera constructs personal visions of Native American history. Bags of clay, armatures and sculpting tools are the necessary implements of Barbera's work, but most indispensable are the research tools: history books, biographies and collections of legends and lore. One wall of her studio is a virtual library of books collected during her travels throughout the United States. Each sculpture is limited to an edition of 30 with three artist’s proofs. "I spend most of my time at the foundry helping oversee the metal chasing and the patinas," she says. "The colors you see in my work are achieved using traditional patinas that are torch-etched onto the bronze. Only the pastel bead work is cold-patinaed and the turquoise painted with acrylic. Then we seal the pieces with a lacquer guaranteed to last for years." What began as simply an interest in past cultures has become nothing short of an addiction. "If I did anything else, I would be cheating myself. Second to my family, art is my life and the history of Native Americans is what I hope to leave for generations to come."
Marie Barbera is a first generation Italian-American. Her father, who emigrated from Italy to the United States in 1915, was a craftsman restoring architectural details on federal and state buildings during the WPA programs of the 1930's. Both Marie and her brother chose to pursue an interest in art while growing up. Married to Frank Barbera in the 1950's, Marie and her husband raised two children and now have two grandchildren as well. After many years as wife and mother, Marie returned to her work and developed the Barbera Studio.
Marie Barbera has exhibited widely throughout the United States and has placed her work in many collections including works collected in Asia. She is represented in Museum Collections and has become a sought after artist working in her genre of figurative Native American bronzes.
As of late, Marie Barbera has started working on and producing life size works that are well suited to public and private outdoor installations. She is an artist who is reaching her prime and looks forward to a productive life as a successful working artist.