In a time of deepening ecological crisis, her work reflects on the pressures placed on ecology by the current “Anthropocene” era and how we respond to that notion. A thread also runs through her practice that draws on her personal experience of loss.

The shadow image recurs throughout her work, connoting insubstantiality, absence and the idea of the obstructed view. In most of her work, Marian’s representations of nature are partial, metaphorically in some kind of between-state: their provisional quality opens the possibility for other outcomes – perhaps hopefulness or regeneration. She works in sculpture, installation, sound, painting and printmaking.

Marian Hester (1971- ) is an artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. After an 18-year career in law and banking, Marian changed direction in 2014 to focus on her art practice, completing her visual arts degree through the University of South Africa (Unisa) in 2018.