Renata Bueche | Courtesy

SHE IS: Marissa Starr, 26

BEST KNOWN FOR: Mixed-media paintings and sculptures inspired by the patterns and textures she observes in nature. Leaves, markings on beetles, bird tracks, tree bark — it all shows up in Starr's work, albeit in an abstract, unrecognizable way.

Her paintings are created with oil, acrylic, leaves, dirt, rocks and other materials on wood. She's never quite sure how they will mix together — and that's an important part of the process.

“I just kind of go at it, and I don't know what's going to happen,” said Starr, who lives in Boerne. “It's exciting for me, but it's also kind of frustrating. I can't force a piece. Sometimes I just have to let it be. I sometimes see beauty in that, them doing what they want to do.”

CURRENTLY: “Up Close,” her solo show at Robot Art Gallery features 20 paintings and four sculptures. While she has used vivid colors in some of her past work, most of these paintings are composed with muted hues and dulled metallics. “What I really am trying to focus on more is movement and texture. Without thinking about it, I take away a lot of the color,” she said.
 
When it comes to sculpture, Starr is interested in form, and her works are often sensuous and curvy. “I tried to preserve or keep a lot of the form I saw in the stone. I didn't want to destroy it,” she said. “But I love form. I love having a hard material look as if it's just soft and flowing.”

BACKGROUND: Starr's artistic career developed in an unusual way. A San Antonio native, she graduated from the Keystone School and went on to study dental lab technology and maxillofacial prosthetics at the UT Health Science Center, learning to fabricate dentures. She started using the same techniques to cast the bellies of pregnant women and eventually expanded her scope to abstract paintings.

To develop her talent, she studied at William Carey College in Gulfport, Miss., on an art scholarship and at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, where she focused on sculpture.

CHECK HER OUT: “Up Close” is up at Robot Art Gallery, 1114 S. St. Mary's, through April. Go robotartgallery.com or call (210) 476-8801.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor