Meet Marissa Comstock | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marissa Comstock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marissa, how do you think about risk?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a risk taker. I’ve always put myself out there pursuing my interests. The same doubts run through my head like everyone else but they’ve never stopped me from doing anything. In times when I’m afraid, I always just put my head down and focused on one foot in front of the other. Action is always the best remedy to doubt.

I went to a private high school where everyone was focused on going to college seemingly except for me. In fact, I was the first person in over 10 years at my high school who didn’t go to college immediately. I had became very interested in global politics junior year, particularly US relations with Latin American countries. My parents had bought me a laptop and got lost learning about the war on drugs, CIA coupes, & communist dictatorships. I found it all so fascinating and when I turned 18 the summer after senior year, I went and traveled by myself in South America.

It’s crazy to look back now and think about how I literally did it all by myself. I just walked off a plane in Quito, Ecuador and that was the beginning of it all. I had convinced my parents to let me go. I’d saved a little money and they, wonderful people that they are, helped with the rest. They were terrified but supportive and everyone thought they were crazy. This was 2007 before smart phones. I went to about 8 different countries, guided by my well used Lonely Planet book. It’s wild to think I did this with just the occasional internet cafe. It was an incredible experience.

Since then, I’ve had multiple careers; I worked in visual effects building CG creatures, I worked at Pinterest as a software engineer, my husband and I have created multiple companies and have made a life out of working for ourselves. I now prioritize my art and my family. Risk has been central to all this. People can get stuck taking the safe road, bouncing from one job to the next. It’s always worth it to invest in yourself no matter how scary it is. If there’s fear of failure and there’s a long way to fall, that’s when I know I’m in the right place.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve explored many styles and mediums over the years but the one theme that is constant for me is the female body. I love painting women. Women’s bodies are a beautiful balance of curves and angles. There is always delicate contradiction in women’s innate movements. I think that we as women have spent so much of our history without control of our lives. For this reason, I think women can be superstitious and at times ungrounded but there is a real beauty in this. For men, I think the desire is to tame the wilderness by exacting physical force on the world around them, but for women, I think we harness and tame the wilderness within ourselves. I find female fixations very fascinating whether it be astrology or the supernatural and these are themes that emerge in many of my paintings.

Color is also central to my work. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with color. I’m always looking at how light and time of day changes perceived color. I don’t invent the colors in my paintings, I just show you how the light makes the world look if you really pay attention.

I’ve been very fortunate to be successful in my business endeavors and now most of my free time is spent at my studio. My studio is my sanctuary and a place of uninhibited creation. The last few years I’ve been able to immerse myself in oil painting and I truly just paint for myself. I know that for many artists, making money from their art is essential but for me it’s not necessary. I just get to focus each day on creating beautiful things for the sake of beauty. It’s a liberating place to be and I don’t, for one second, take it for granted.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was visiting, I would first take them to tea at The Huntington Library. I take my daughter for walks there all the time. The tea room there is so beautiful. They chose the most luxurious colors for the walls and it just has the most, elegant, lovely, springtime vibe. The gardens are incredible, there are art galleries. It’s an Eden.

After the library, I would do a food tour in San Gabriel Valley. I’m a huge fan of Chinese food, particularly Szechuan food and there’s so many amazing places in this area. My absolute favorite is Chong Qing Special Noodle for their hot and sour dumpling soup. On the way home we’d stop at Wing Hop Fung to buy some rare teas and then we’d finish the night with donuts from Donut Friend sitting out by the fire pit in my backyard overlooking Downtown LA.

The next day, we’d go to breakfast at Bub & Grandma’s where I would get a sandwich and get their homemade strawberry donut. I’m pregnant right now and I really like donuts. After we’d go to the Broad. I love taking friends to the Broad. Even if you’re not a fan of modern art, the pieces at the Broad are so huge, and there are so many superstars, that you’re bound to feel a sense of wonder. It’s also free. It’s one of the most amazing things about Los Angeles, is that you can go and see Lichtensteins, and Warhols among many others, entirely for free.

In the evening, if it was summer, I’d pack a picnic with cheese and charcuterie from my local cheese shop, Milkfarm, and go to see a show at the Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl is my absolutely favorite venue in LA. The LA Philharmonic plays there regularly. For as huge as the venue is, they do such an amazing job organizing that’s it’s a breeze to get in and out. Watching the sunset while you’re nestled in the Hollywood Hills while drinking a great bottle of wine, about to listen to amazing music, is such a quintessential LA experience.

For the last day, I’d start with a walk at the Griffith Observatory. On a clear day, you can look down from the hilltop over all of the Los Angeles as if it were a drawn map and you can see all the way to the ocean. It’s such a beautifully architected building and you’ll see the iconic Hollywood sign.

Then I’d first pick a place for dinner so I could balance it with our lunch choice. I’d either choose Found Oyster for some delicious raw seafood, Jitlada for some extremely spicy, authentic Thai food, or Damian if we wanted to get bougie and go to the arts district for some high end Mexican food and margaritas. If we picked Jitlada for dinner, then for lunch, I’d get some Mexican seafood. There’s a delicious food truck called Mariscos El Faro in Highland park that makes THE BEST ceviches and aguachile. It’s owned by a brother and two sisters from Sinaloa. Another option would be La Cevicheria to get their unbeatable muscles and aguachile.

If we picked, Damian or Found Oyster, I’d choose Maison Matho for lunch for the most perfect French ham baguette with loads of butter and cornichons. Don’t forget the earl grey latte.

If by chance there was one more day, I’d do a beach day in Malibu and drive around after to look at all the incredible houses that I like to envision myself owning one day. We’d do lunch at Broad Street Oyster. What can I say, I love raw seafood.

That’s it! That’s my LA itinerary. I’m food and art focused.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have been truly fortunate in my life to meet my husband. We met when I was 27 and we knew immediately that we wanted to spend our lives together. There have been ups and downs but our relationship has remained constant. We pour ourselves into each other and our families. We’ve been business partners since the beginning of our relationship because we enjoy creating things together and we value our freedom. My husband is brilliant and strong-willed. He can move mountains and I never have any doubt about the future because he’s an unyielding force in this world. He has made me into a better person in every way. He challenges my thoughts and he’s endlessly supportive. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him and he’s a tremendous father to our beautiful daughter. I love him with all my heart.

Website: https://marissacomstock.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marissa.n.comstock/

Other: https://www.instagram.com/ugly____princess

Ugly princess is a project I’m working on where I give away free t-shirts with my art every week and ship them to people with some thoughts on philosophy and how you can start your journey with philosophy.

Image Credits
Some of these images were taken by my studio assistant, Félixe De Becker of Happy Together Studios