Theodosia Marchant has found a safe place, a sanctuary, at ShockBoxx in Hermosa Beach
Stepping into her world
by Bondo Wyszpolski
Home. It’s a simple word, but its implications are vast. Home is not just where we return after a long day at the office or a week in Maui. It’s a refuge, an oasis, a place where we can lean back, prop up our feet, and feel secure. Theodosia Marchant knows all about this, about finding someplace where she belongs, even if it’s temporary, until the quest for “home” begins anew.
Theodosia had been spending her days in Hermosa Beach, painting the interior walls of ShockBoxx Gallery from floor to ceiling. She creates large, sensuous forms with swaths of color that seem to swoop up and down and side to side, reminiscent in some ways of Matisse and in others of Henri Rousseau. The result is an immersive, wraparound canvas, one we can step into, and we’ll have that opportunity come Saturday, Sept. 28 when “Oikos,” which means home or house in Greek, opens to the public.
Pulling up roots
Theodosia Marchant was born in Athens, where she lived until she was 17, before moving to England. “I studied law in London and took the Greek (Athenian) bar exams while still in London, right after I finished my Master’s. I then became a UK solicitor.
“I still hold an active UK license. I started in a law firm and then moved in-house for a Saudi billionaire and philanthropist. I was his in-house legal counsel for the UK territory.”
While in London she met her future husband. When he was offered an assignment in Los Angeles, they moved eight time zones to the west, where they’ve now resided for 10 years. They have a six-year-old son.
“Art has always been in my family,” Theodosia says, as we sit together in the gallery. “But my parents wanted me to follow something that was financially secure.” That accounted for the move to London. “Art was never really on the table,” she continues, “but it was always my passion,” as it was for her sister and mother. Her mother was an artist and architect.
However, “When I went to London and I went into the corporate field I just forgot how happy art used to make me. There was also a sort of disappointment because I couldn’t follow it — as I had to do something that would provide an income — and so I simply locked it away for a number of years.”
That’s not to say that she was immune to the cultural scene around her. She recounts how she’d often go to galleries, to poetry readings, and to the ballet.
Theodosia had a well-paying job, but when her husband was offered work in California one of the reasons she agreed to leave England was because his work here was assumed to be temporary, which their five-year visas would otherwise ensure, and also because she was able to take an extended leave of absence from her job. She’d established a good rapport with her boss that she sought to maintain.
The intended plan to return to London didn’t materialize, which of course had consequences for Theodosia’s career. On the other hand, it proved beneficial for her husband. Looking at it philosophically, she says, “In relationships sometimes one goes down, one goes up, and you try to balance.”
Theodosia, in 2013, and after arriving in L.A., might not have guessed that she’d still be here in 2024. She also might not have guessed there’d be a full-on return to her youthful engagement with making art, and this time on a larger, more-focused scale.
“I’m not the kind of person who just sits around and does nothing,” she says. One reason she concentrated on art was to deal with the stress, or uncertainty, of being on unfamiliar turf. It was a way to keep her mind focused and to relax.
Gradually, after 17 years in London, Los Angeles became home, her third home. Will this one be permanent?
“Obviously there’s always a question mark hanging over us because we’re not citizens,” she says of her and her husband, although their son, born here, is. “It feels like home, but things might change.” For Theodosia, the meaning of “home” has changed over the years, but as she defines it today it’s “basically where the family is, my immediate family.” This also means that, one day again, she may be living elsewhere, and she’s open to it. Home, then, would travel with her to wherever she and her family may choose to settle and put down new roots.
Installation view of “Oikos,” by Theodosia Marchant, at Shockboxx Gallery
A sense of community
There are homes of another sort, and for Theodosia one of these is the community of artists associated with ShockBoxx, which Mike Collins and Laura Schuler founded in 2017. Theodosia became involved with these like-minded folks almost from the beginning. “I saw that they were not so much concerned about how to make money,” she says, but rather that “they wanted to create a scene, a place for artists to come and do what they wanted. I saw the vision, and I liked what I saw. So I said, yeah, this is a cool gallery and I would like to stay around.”
ShockBoxx has a bit of that lenient, unruffled, bohemian feel that once characterized Richard Stephens’ Cannery Row Studios in Redondo Beach. Collins and Schuler (who moved on a few years back) always seemed easygoing and receptive to a variety of new ideas and concepts. The gallery keeps a low profile, and yet it draws artists from across the country. At the same time, ShockBoxx has championed local artists and has given several of them, including Scott Meskill and Drica Lobo, their own shows.
Theodosia has participated in group exhibitions at ShockBoxx. “Above all,” she says, “I have a good relationship with Mike and what is really sweet and fulfilling for me is the fact that I feel we have evolved together.” And so the time was right, and ripe, for her first solo show.
She also commends Collins for allowing her to indulge her vision, which included painting on virtually every surface except the floor, the ceiling, and the roll-up door. Whether or not she fully understood the enormity of the task when she began, Theodosia willingly put in long hours. And how did she cope during that time, during which the South Bay experienced some grueling hot weather? By retreating into her past.
“While working on this mural in a space that feels intimate and serene,” she says, “I experienced a sudden and unexpected urge to revisit the music of my teenage years — tunes I haven’t heard in a very long time. The impact has been comforting. It’s like creating art in a place that, despite being far from where I originated, feels like home, and against the backdrop of music from another chapter of my life when safety and comfort were present.”
She notes that her main intention with this, and presumably other work, was to entice the viewer to get lost (if only for a short time) within the different dimensions of the painting. I’ve already mentioned Matisse and Rousseau, but what comes to my mind as well is “Guenica” in color or a New Orleans funhouse. The nude and robust black women seem to be softly swaying, and there’s a tropical vibe, like stepping into a warm, humid Caribbean night.
When I met with Theodosia she hadn’t yet begun painting the back, smaller room, but she was envisioning a quieter space, a reprieve from the main gallery. I asked her, half-seriously, if it would be like a lounge, maybe with a couch, but no, Theodosia wants us to move around. “You walk in, you absorb it. It’s an experience.”
And what does Collins himself say when asked? “This show is true to form for our gallery and I guarantee it will be something fresh and new. Theodosia has really challenged herself with this effort and the results are perfection!”
At first Theodosia had also considered hanging a few smaller works, an idea since discarded. “There isn’t going to be much for sale.” And that’s actually one noble thing about ShockBoxx; Collins isn’t insisting that his artists sell a lot of work or maybe any work. This frees them up from the stress of having to try and be commercial.
For Theodosia, the main room represents home, “oikos,” a place where one has a sense of belonging. The show, in part, is an homage to ShockBoxx, to Mike Collins, and the tight-knit community he’s fostered. It also honors and acknowledges the fact that she and the gallery have been evolving together over the years, “growing up together in a way,” she says. “It feels safe, it feels home, it feels nice, and for me to be able to work here I’m really grateful to Mike who actually lets me do whatever I want.”
ShockBoxx has been a proving ground for bigger and better things. “My focus for the past two or three years,” Theodosia adds, “has been on the international scene. My upcoming projects are in Spain, Cypress, and Germany.”
It all started here, at her home away from home.
Oikos, painting and murals by Theodosia Marchant, opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, at ShockBoxx Gallery, 636 Cypress Ave., Hermosa Beach. Open during the week; no appointment required. Through Oct. 25. A women’s show opens afterwards, but the murals will remain. Collins says an art talk is planned, so cycle back for updates:
shockboxxproject.com or info@shockboxxproject.com
The artist can be reached via email at theodosiamarchant@gmail.com.
Her website is theodosia-marchant.com, and also instagram.com/theodosia_marchant