"'Pastels fall through the ceiling of my studio, all I do is hold the paper in the right spot to
break their fall.' Menlo Macfarlane, or 'Mr. M,' is the wizard among the artists of the
Grass Valley Graphics Group. With his multimedia work in performance and visual arts he
defies any categorization. "He has been referred to as a genuine shamanic artist with a
professional background in dancing (he worked with Alvin Nikolai and Merce Cunningham,
among others) and a great reputation as studio percussionist and percussion teacher. He is
a true multi-instrumentalist (specializing in tribal instruments from Africa and Australia),
performance artist and prolific visual artist who with his pastels and his luminaires has
gained an international reputation.
"Macfarlane’s pastels remind us in their witty and
invigorating freshness of French and German Dadaist art of the twenties. Each one of his
works is a complete surprise, a fresh and humorous approach to what life has to offer.
Often what seems like a harmless whim reveals itself at second glance as a powerful
aesthetic statement.
"Macfarlane sees his art as doorways
that can be used by artist and viewer alike to 'track back to a location where the mood
originated.' The mood, not the mind, is the key to Macfarlane’s art: 'I don’t try to think
about my art, I don’t draw from the mind. I work with my hands, and if I could, I would work
with my eyes closed.'"
