Marionne Contreras (b. 1992) is a mixed-media artist based in Manila. Her current focus is on yarn and fabric-based works. These are often with themes of memory, its persistence, its purity, its vulnerability to tampering, taking visual inspiration from textures and forms found in nature while maintaining an aesthetic of the synthetic.

The “unnaturalness” in appearance of her works is intended as an exaggeration and fictionalization of the real, but the boundaries of the real remain blurry as fantasies and embellished accounts of events always tend to spill over. This blurry boundary is where Contreras positions herself for a panoramic view of what that boundary supposedly divides.

Primarily, Contreras worked with an array of materials producing eclectic output, from fiberglass sculptures to acrylic paintings on wood to assemblages to works on paper. As a self-taught visual artist, Contreras draws influences and knowledge of materials from the experience she gained from her trysts with different fields – taking up Doctor of Dental Medicine in College, and then Fashion Design, until eventually she decided to practice as an artist full time.

Her hand on different materials was used in her 2018 one-person exhibition in the Cultural Center of the Philippines entitled, A Collection Of Bruises, Curses, Baby Teeth. She has presented different works, such as fiberglass installations, mixed media assemblages, textile based soft sculptures, drawings, neon signage, using them as a means to tell a personal narrative which is always present in her works despite her conscious decision to highlight their ornamental nature – to always stage them as a showcase of beauty given the parameters in which the very idea of “the beautiful” is meant to work. This is evident in her Plant Series, an ongoing series of work which was started in 2018.

Marionne Contreras’ shift of focus to yarn and fabric-based works was a conscious decision to veer away from the use of toxic materials in her work, having borne a child in 2019. Her current works, including her Plant Series, span from embroidery, hand-woven tapestry, and soft sculptures. She employs different textile making techniques, such as weaving, crocheting, knitting, tufting, and needlework.

Contreras’ works have been regularly exhibited in various solo and group exhibitions in the Philippines. She also does writing work.