Mary Jane Marcasiano

Mary Jane Marcasiano is an American designer, artist and film producer working in New York City. Marcasiano's current series of paintings is inspired by Afro-Brazilian culture and her costume designs for Grammy Award winning singer Angelique Kidjo, using West AfricanVlisco print fabrics. The two themes of the series are, Iemanjá, the Candomblé Oríxa of the sea and Tropicália, the Brazilian art and music movement of the late 1960’s. A graduate of Parson’s School of Design, Marcasiano works in the medium of egg tempera on gesso paper and board to achieve her textile like patterns.


 

President of her eponymous design company, founded in 1979, Marcasiano has been awarded the Cartier, DuPont, Cutty Sark and Wool Knit Awards for her work in fashion. Marcasiano designs costumes for dance, film and has produced several films, including the feature film Reaching for the Moon and a documentary film on textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen. She is the founder of the Made With Love Project, a non-profit organization working with women and children in Brazil and Africa and is the Director of Development of the Latin film non-profit organization Cinema Tropical.

Courtesy of the Artist