For “Marker” Marie Watt presents a body of work investigating of the concept of both abstract and figurative representations of marker as directional sign; act of negation; a common signature for an illiterate; symbol for a kiss; a spot on a map. Continuing to draw from her Iroquois heritage Watt notes that native tribes marked trails, water sources and important areas by tying down saplings so that they would grow into permanent markers. She interprets this universal human impulse to manifest a physical notation of place as a vehicle for storytelling, wayfinding, memorializing, and location-siting.

“Marker” is Watt’s first Portland exhibition since the Contemporary Northwest Art Award exhibition at the Portland Art Museum in 2008. Watt has exhibited at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, NY, NY; the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM; the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA; the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; the Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX; the Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID.

In 2009 Watt received the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship Award and the Fabric Workshop + Museum, Residency, Philadelphia, PA. Her work is in the collections of the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ; the Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; the Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM; the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC; the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; the Eiteljorg Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN; the Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, WI and the Hallie Ford Art Museum, Salem, OR.