Merrilyn Duzy

Growing up in semi-rural Los Angeles County, art was my identity. It gave me a strong sense of self, and was a salvation from my very dysfunctional family. Visual acuity came early. The memories that stay with me the most are those based on colors. I move through my surroundings with a keen sense and appreciation of color.

In graduate school I was described as being omni-directional. This is true. My many diverse interests; the people I know, my world-wide travels, the environment around me and the skies above, are the things that move me and comprise my main art subjects. In working with these themes, I like to try different medias. I enjoy and delight in the pure pleasure of painting; mixing the colors, stroking the pastels, and fusing fire with encaustics. To work in only one or two medias and with limited subjects would be like going to a banquet and trying only the main course. In life, as in a feast, it’s best to experience all that you can.

Relationships with fellow artists provide me with the subjects of my most significant portraits. The Women Artists in History series are comprised of contemporary artists in the costumes and settings of their historical counterparts. The Artists Series features my artist friends in their own environments surrounded with their art. One of the most rewarding relationships, related to my artmaking, is the coming together of San Fernando Valley based artists to form a collaboration. We are Group Nine.

Merrilyn Duzy is an artist first and foremost; she is also a teacher, lecturer, curator and art collector. Her formal art education culminated with her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Los Angeles’ Otis Art Institute. Her informal education includes wide-ranging travels, and her extensive research for her lectures: Walking Through History: Women Artists Past & Present, Symbols, Signs & Space: A Personal Journey, and Sex in History: A Pictorial View, her most recent lecture, which encompasses 5000 years of erotic art.

Ms. Duzy has s substantial exhibition record that includes museums in California, Florida, New Mexico, Washington, Japan, Thailand, Armenia, and Taiwan. Merrilyn continues to participate in exhibitions worldwide. As a curator, Ms. Duzy has organized and presented exhibitions on Erotic Art, Quarks to Quasars, and Angels, Ancestors & Spirit Guides, among others. Ms. Duzy is listed in the Who's Who In American Art, Who's Who In The West, “VoyageLA: Hidden Gems 2019, Barbara J. Love’s, Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975, as well as many catalogues and publications.