Drawing and creating have been a major part of Marina’s life since a young age. It was always her aim to be a working artist.
Marina became interested in batik at an early stage of her career and was captivated and greatly inspired by its potential. Batik is a traditional art form originating from Indonesia where wax is used as a dye resist to produce intricate designs on cotton.

After studying at Goldsmiths College in the early eighties, Marina learned that making batik art would not be easy. It fell between two stools and was not accepted by mainstream Art Galleries or the Craft Council. Art had become dominated by minimalist and conceptual ideas. Video art and installations were keenly endorsed and encouraged, even in the Textiles Department at Goldsmiths! There her work found little support. Batik was something that she wanted to explore in a contemporary way. Marina felt that there was much more scope for pushing the technique to its limits in terms of achieving the detail, vibrancy and subtlety of painting. She wanted to paint figuratively and expressively like the Old Masters, but with hot wax and dye.

Marina’s batiks have attracted favourable attention in the wider world, allowing her to make a living as an illustrator for several years, utilising batik’s unique qualities to achieve some distinctive works. She has run batik workshops, demonstrations and given tuition in many schools and Art colleges. These have always been received enthusiastically and she enjoys the response, and feedback from all ages. Since moving from London to The Weald in 2005, she has exhibited in local galleries and open shows. Most of her sales are commissioned portraits or floral works and she continues to run small, individually arranged workshops in batik, portraiture and drawing.

Currently Marina is painting in oils and Acrylics. These shaped, wood panel paintings are a break away from her batiks, allowing space and a time to find new ways of expressing her creativity. She continues to experiment with new techniques and other mediums while not letting go of the vivid qualities that batik has always inspired.