Inspiration AND Execution
Matija Hulina - Skyrim - Music Ambience - Night
Maira begins each piece by first collating ideas and visions into something organic, forming layers to create entirely unique combinations. “My work is an endeavor to attain a balance between the old and the new...to present the remnants of the past with a contemporary perspective and approach in the use of mediums and their handling,” the artist notes. Even the artist's choice is metaphorical. Her use of oil paint as a primary medium homage to history and the past is juxtaposed with innovative and unique contemporary techniques and handling of paint. ” I love the use of textures from the decorative arts, whether this is inlays of jewels, hand-painted mosaics, or carved gypsum; each is there to provide a tactile interactive experience for the viewer. “
Her evolution into wood panels and sculptural elements is only further evidence of her courage as an artist to break the mold and never fit in a box, ever ready to show the audience another side of her vision. With her Moon series, Maira shows us that not only can she capture the movement, texture, and energy of an environment, but she also has an impeccable instinct for the emotionally evicted of the power of color.
In the Tree of Life Series, the artist's sensitivity to form and color takes over, and her work verges on a new form of Expression. Evoking celebratory joie de vitreous, they are simultaneously poetic and fantastical- emitting a transformative power, they elevate the viewer to a higher plane of awareness. “Trees have been symbolic since the very beginning of time, from The Garden of Eden to The Olive Branch of Peace. Within its lofty branches, creatures find refuge and abode,” the artist explains. “Weary travelers find shelter under its shade, and the soulful mediate to find a higher meaning of life. The Tree, to me, is life-sustaining and provides an anchor through the challenging winds of time.” These images resonate with a profound sense that the subconscious soul has been manifested in color and form. What truly exists within her work is a vitality and vigor that is descriptive of a body of work reaching far beyond the confines of reality.
In brilliant and translucent jewel tones of turquoise, saffron, teal, indigo, umber, and arctic blue, her use of color is both literal and metaphorical, as she explained, “My color palette consists of jewel tones as well as elements of nature... earth, water, air, and fire.” It is a vision so rich, luxurious, sensuous, fluid, and overflowing. Sucking the viewers into their oceanic swirl, the works carry them along their coils. Her works are suspended moments of liquid in motion, embodying an intense and energetic physicality, an exuberant expression of pleasure and vitality. The magic of these works emerges in the tensions between control and spontaneity.
"ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE"
-Pablo Picasso