You I see art as a reflection of the inner life of a person, so no matter what you do, no matter what kind of a mark you would make, it would say something about the person.

These images, formed in clay and paint, are the work of Columbus artist Marie Mascarello.

Although influenced by modernist Jackson Pollock and primitive art, she is still following her own path.

I was really interested in the idea of looking into the unconscious mind and using artwork as a way to kind of get into that part of your psyche.

And it really challenged me to view art not as just an image that we own or we create but more as a frozen part of a dream.

It's very autobiographical and, I guess, emotional.

And a lot of the things that I paint about are either experiences that I've had, dreams, or relationships with people, feelings.

And it's just a way for me to record and also learn for myself through what I make.

I really believe that we can learn about ourselves through our images.

Painting for me is real natural because it's such an expressive medium.

I feel like it's really easy to be free and to be uninhibited.

Her works have been exhibited in places such as the Roy G. Biv Gallery in Columbus' short This gallery being a gallery which promotes younger artists in the area.

We really liked the look and feel of Marie's work.

We think it's very, you know, it's aggressive, it's powerful, it' decisive.

It naturally stirs a lot of emotions with the viewer.

I think that most of the work has very essential quality about it.

I love this.

It looks like my ex-wife.

I don't want the cigarette.

It's very alive, which is, I think, very much part of Marie.

Her shapes are pretty abrupt, they're very rigid, and that's kind of exciting because they're not the norm.

She uses a lot of bold color, she uses a lot of ochre and that is a very nice neutral that she uses more in her paintings than say gray or something, so they all have life.

I feel really fortunate in a sense because people seem to be interested in learning what my work is about and not just feeling it as, oh, there's another piece of art, there is another number.

But I've been surprised by how people really question this, like, what is that, you know, what you're doing, I'm attracted to that, tell me about it.

That was Christmas time.

That's my grandma, my uncle, a native Sino, and it's from a snapshot.

How old are you?

I think there's three.

When did you do that?

I did that in 85.

It's one of the only pieces in the show that's kind of older.

One thing that's really nice for me, because of the kind of work that I do, it's very intimate, the themes are really personal, it is nice for you to have a studio in my own room.

And a lot of times when I'm here at night, and a lot times I work on paintings at night and right before I go to bed I'll be sitting in my bed with my husband and looking at the piece and saying, you know, what do you think of this?

It's nice.

It kind of creates an opportunity for us to talk about the work and also for me to kind of sit back in a setting where I feel real comfortable and look at it.