Dreamer
of dreams, producer of sounds, maker of mythic objects.
Mark Groaning is a Rochester-based artist working at the intersection of glass, metal, paint and reclaimed objects.
Drawing from a background in mixed media and sculpture, Groaning treats glass, steel and paint, not just as material, but as memory—capturing moments of tension, transformation, and wonder. His work invites viewers to slow down, lean in, and imagine the stories hiding just beneath the surface. Because everything has an origin story.
Groaning says, “Rules weren’t something I learned and broke.
I mostly just ignored them from the start.
I built with cardboard and duct tape before I ever touched a welder. Painted on acrylic panels GeForce ever working with molten glass.
Used modeling paste, gel medium, acrylics—whatever I had.
Because the material has always been secondary.
Expression is the engine.
I follow one rule:
Use what you have to say what you must.
““It comes down to motion—how the work moves, how it stirs the viewer, and how that stirring becomes its own kind of movement.””