Christopher Marley

Christopher Marley (born 1969) is an artist, photographer, naturalist, and author who uses natural artifacts as his artistic medium. He is best known initially for his book Biophilia, and then for the traveling exhibit Exquisite Creatures that features his art.

Background Marley was born in Covina, California and raised in Salem, Oregon. Growing up, Marley was a reptile enthusiast. His father was an aviarist and breeder of rare color mutations of Australian parrots and great blue turacos. Marley served as a missionary in the Atacama Desert in Chile for two years at 19 years old. After this, he studied design at Brigham Young University. During university, he took sabbaticals to work with fashion brands such as Donna Karan, Gucci, Nike, and Giorgio Armani.

Inspiration Marley long considered insects the "parasites of nature" and his phobia was most triggered by insect legs. To cope with an insect phobia while traveling as a model to exotic places (like South Africa, Borneo, China, and Peru), stag beetles,

Marley's artistic philosophy is motivated by aesthetics, telling scientific stories of biological diversity, and focusing on either one or two features in the mosaic for the general public to better receive. Notably, he doesn't buy specimens from hunters, and uses reclaimed specimens that have been caught as fishing bycatch or died by natural causes. He has also developed a novel freeze-drying method to preserve the animals, which contrasts the typical method of preserving animals in liquid. The insects shown in Marley's works are harvested by indigenous communities and sold to help support the local economies. The exhibit has traveled to museums such as North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Impact Example of Nike's Zoom Superfly Elite shoes, showcasing the final design during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio that were inspired by Christopher Marley's work of the Sagra buqueti beetle. Alongside its collection of the oldest collection of insects in the new world, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University has featured Marley's insect work. With regards to influencing product design, former Nike CEO Mark Parker says, "Chris' subject matter and imagery have inspired Nike's design work on color and texture, on high-performance track spikes for Olympic athletes and even new interpretations of classic styles, like the Nike Air Max."

Personal life Marley currently lives in Salem, Oregon. He has a 10,000-square-foot studio warehouse outside the city of Salem.

Publications