Cristina Marian is a Romanian-American visual artist whose work explores such themes as her experience within her community; togetherness and the sense of belonging; communal and global changes; and finding peace within unpredictability. 

According to Marian, “I have found myself on the edge of vulnerability throughout my life. My sense of belonging was often replaced by the feeling of living in constant movement, and the unpredictability of spaces and states of the unknown.” As a child, she lived between two vastly divergent political regimes and witnessed the violent Romanian Revolution of 1989. Then, at age 13, she moved by herself from a small village in the Romanian countryside to a city of two million people to follow her dream of studying art. Around the same time, Marian lost her childhood home to a fire. Still, she completed her studies, established her career as an artist, and later immigrated to the U.S. These experiences contributed to the feeling of permanent transition, which strongly influences her artwork.

In Bucharest, Romania, Marian earned a degree in Fashion Design in 1998 and a BFA in Painting at the National University of Fine Arts in 2003. Marian participated in MAP (Montana Artrepreneur Program) offered by the Montana Arts Council in 2015; and, most recently, earned her MFA from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 2020. 

Marian works with a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, and public installation. She has exhibited internationally, including in Bucharest, Paris, Tel Aviv, Oslo, Dakar, and Vienna. In America, Marian’s work has been shown throughout Montana and in Spokane, WA. Her most recent group show was The Space of Hope: A Collective Response at the Missoula Art Museum. The Winds Are Changing is her most recent solo show at Echo Arts Gallery in Bozeman. For almost ten years, Montana has been her home. She divides her time between working in the studio, exhibiting her artwork, and teaching.

Marian is represented by Echo Arts in Bozeman, MT. For any inquiries please contact hello@echoarts.net.