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China Marks was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She earned a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute and an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis. In 1976, she moved to New York City and now lives and creates in a converted Long Island City factory.
China uses an industrial sewing machine to make process-directed drawings and books out of fabric and thread. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums in the United States and Europe.
She has received numerous grants and fellowships, including a 2005 NY fellowship for her sewn drawings. Her work has appeared in Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts, Art in America magazines as well as numerous solo and group shows.
She was trained and worked for many years as a sculptor, using all kinds of hand and power tools. Familiar with acrylic, pencil, cement, wood, metal, resin & bone as a sculptor & painter, When China began work on her sewn drawings, she had no experience with fabric. To her, the industrial sewing machine she creates with is just another power tool - one that she draws with.