Mark Sullivan is an artist who works in various mediums: oil, acrylic, pastel, beadwork, collage, and photography. He grew up in New Orleans, which influences his mask works and artwork. He has a BFA from Louisiana State University and an MFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, Hoffberger Graduate School. His graduate school advisor was the artist, Grace Hartigan. Through Grace Hartigan, he has met several famous women artists, including Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Miriam Schapiro, Lois Dodd, and some not-so-famous male artists. Women artists have influenced his work and outlook as an artist. He has an autistic child with severe behavioral problems that slowed down his art career. During this time, he continued to make art but not show. His son is now in a great group home. Awards and shows are all in a distant memory. He still has a sense of humor, but that is about it. The skull pictured is made of rope. It is from a life-size self-portrait skeleton where all the bones are made of rope called “He must have moved with a quirky jerk.”
