Technique

Maria’s paintings often portray people she loves. She begins with a photoshoot, capturing her subject in a restful pose. She invites her model to share fragments of their lives to incorporate into their portrait: handwritten notes, tickets, drawings, old family photographs, etc. She prints negatives of photographs that her model shares, as well as hand-drawing negatives of animals and objects that she associates with them.

Once her materials are gathered, Maria begins coating. Alongside the pieces of paper her model provides, she works with Bristol, watercolor, and Japanese ink paper, preparing them for cyanotype. Throughout the process, she uses salt, water, coffee, and bleach to disrupt and tone her cyanotype prints.

Projecting her photo reference, Maria begins constructing the background on a wall. She cuts, sorts, and arranges her prints, gluing and pressing them into a single surface, which she reinforces on the back. Only then does she paint. Working primarily in acrylic, she sometimes layers in details with an airbrush or colored pencils. She thins her paint, so that the details and memories from her underlying prints can shine through skin and fabric.

Innovation

Maria builds her own painting surface, allowing her to circumvent traditional size restrictions and break away from typical shapes. Through arranging and reconfiguring, she uncovers the forms that feel most true to the individuality of her subjects.

Her layered approach makes each work a visual puzzle. From a distance, each painting is one large sleeping figure. Up close, the viewer discovers she is made up of a hundred little secrets: family photographs, exposed plants and objects, the model’s handwriting, textures from lace and netting, airbrushed patterns and more. Maria captures the complexity of being, the totality behind acceptance, and the power of rest.