Cottrell was trained as a painter, but while working in the production department of a magazine in the late 1990s she began to utilize a prosaic office printer and began layering periods, commas, brackets, and other forms to create compositions. Through a process of running paper through printer again and again, these cropped, resized and distorted shapes developed into unique works on paper.[3] Cottrell described the change from painting to her new art-making method in the following terms: "Since I couldn't be in my studio, it was natural for me to consider how I might use the tools in my immediate environment."[4] When a work on paper is completed Cottrell deletes the corresponding digital file, emphasizing the physicality of the object and placing her practice in opposition to cyberart and similar movements.[3]
Cottrell often uses high quality mulberry paper in her works – allowing the iron oxide toner to build up on the surface over the course of multiple runs through a printer.[5] The artist, who typically works in grayscale, debuted her first works in color at a 2021 exhibition with her New York gallery, Van Doren Waxter.[6]
Marsha Cottrell's work is featured in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL;[15] the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX;[16] Morgan Library and Museum, New York, NY;[17] Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany;[18] Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY;[19] National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC;[20] North Carolina Museum of Art, NC;[21] Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;[22] San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA[1]
