Maria lives and works as a painter in Seattle, Washington. Her artistic process is shaped by the integration of her professional and educational backgrounds in theater, illustration and graphic design.

At the Kintai Residency Maria began preliminary work on four large portrait oil paintings depicting what she is referring to as ‘the invisible woman.’ The subject of each painting is a close female relative who resides in Lithuania. Each of the four women will represent one of the four elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.

Women’s place and contributions in history have often been invisible, overlooked and undervalued. This series honours all women who, like the elements, are essential, yet often invisible or unseen. Although these portraits would depict Lithuanian women within Lithuanian culture specifically, the portraits would recognize and celebrate women’s sacred roles in nature and society at large.

Maria has worked primarily in the plein air technique while at the residency to capture places and symbolic images she has encountered in Lithuania. These studies will provide visual material for her larger home studio paintings.

▶ Kintai Arts residency programme for individual projects