Marlee Munro—interdisciplinary artist

Colours that Hum with Harmony and Dissonance

Marlee Munro is fascinated by the vibrational power of colour. Physics tells us that each colour has its own wavelength, and that everything in existence is made of vibration, but Marlee doesn’t need science to know that colour has power—she feels it.

“What most attracts me to colours is the way they can hum in harmony and in dissonance. I’m always searching for that throb that happens when the colours combine just right,” says Marlee, who graduated with a degree in fine art from North Island College in 2022.

Marlee’s acrylic and watercolour paintings are drenched in intense, vibrant, multi-layered colour. Some are abstract, some portray fantastic and spiritual realms, and some represent actual things, animals, places, and people, including herself.

“My work explores personal experiences, memories, and imaginings,” she says. For instance, her experience of becoming a new mother in 2023 gave rise to a series of paintings that explored the bodily and emotional realities of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.

“Art is a language for processing our lives, our memories, and our experiences. It offers us a safe place to place all of our brutal honesty and that way it allows us to sense these things and make sense of them,” she says. Expressing that honesty through art creates beauty, she says.

“Being an artist is such a gift. It reminds me to be present and observant, and to notice the beauty in the world.”

Marlee creates in many genres and media, including photography, sculpture, poetry, and music. “I’m willing to pick up and try anything that speaks to me. I really enjoy mixing and switching between mediums, incorporating things from one into the other.”

See Marlee’s work on Denman: Check the Denman Island Craft Shop and island art events.