Maria Uhase: SURREAL
“Through visual juxtapositions, I aim to create stories that convey my personal sentiments and open up a dialogue about the biological world.”
2022 Artist-in-Residence at Flathead Lake Biological Station
Maria Uhase and Sophia Hart (2022 artist-in-residence artist at FLBS) collecting nature samples
How was your experience as an Open AIR Artist-in-Residence?
The residency at Flathead Lake Biological Station through Open AIR was an amazing experience which inspired both my personal and professional life. I immediately found a supportive community of artists and creatives, the time to focus on my artistic process, and a wide variety of sources of inspiration for my artwork. Being on location at the bio station gave me the opportunity to study a new environment (since I had never been to Montana before), and learn from the scientists about Flathead Lake and the surrounding land. This has fueled -and continues to inspire - many ideas for new projects in which I share what I observed and learned about. Most significantly this experience increased my curiosity about the natural world even more and gave me the space to take creative risks that I feel have pushed my practice even further.
Maria’s oil painting created during her residency
What was your research process during this time?
During this time, I focused on collecting ideas and inspiration alongside the other artists who shared the residency with me. We often joined the scientists at the bio station in their research, where we learned about limnology, local geography, micro- and macro-organisms, and the, significance of Flathead Lake. We often visited Glacier National Park and hiked surrounding trails, during which we would bounce ideas off each other and collect visual information by photographing details in the environment. I formed many project ideas inspired by these experiences, many of which combined the factual information I learned with the objects around me. I then would develop an image that would help convey the information in a unique and surreal way that I hoped would prompt potential viewers to engage in a dialogue about it. I took this information back to my workspace in the cabin and created sketches, documented future project ideas made some experimental illustration pieces with ink and marker, and began the process of some larger projects to be completed later in ink or oil paint.
Maria’s drawing created during her residency at FLBS
What are you up to now (post Open AIR)?
I am currently doing art full-time until my seasonal job as an organic farmer starts up again in the spring. I am working on continuing some of the projects I began during my residency with Open AIR, completing commission work, and starting new projects that I plan to share in group shows at local galleries. Much of the new work is based on sketches I developed during my residency period, and will incorporate risk-taking and experimenting I began there. I have been playing with using non-traditional supports, exploring different combinations and layering with dry media, and contrasting meticulous illustration work with abstract elements.
Pen drawing created by Maria during her residency at FLBS
How would you describe your work?
I create surreal paintings and illustrations involving combinations of plants, animals, and other objects in the environment. The figures in the pieces are imaginarily mutated with extra limbs or eyes, covered in fungi, spiderwebs, insects, and plants. Using ink, marker, pencil, and watercolor for my pieces on paper I achieve a more visually simplistic - yet experimental and detailed - technique. By using oil for my pieces on canvas, I explore with layering, textures, color, and depth. Through visual juxtapositions, I aim to create stories that convey my personal sentiments and open up a dialogue about the biological world. I hope to prompt potential viewers to question what they see, to discover the hidden details and ironies, and to broaden their curiosity about the world around them.
Pen drawing created by Maria during her residency at FLBS
What keeps you returning to this subject, body of work?
I continue to return to this subject of surreal combinations of plants and animals because there is so much to explore and, just like in nature, there are endless ideas to create. I have always been attracted to describing elements from the environment having lived with a deep
relationship with it from very early on. I find that using animals to represent human experiences has allowed the sentiments I attempt to convey to be more universally relatable, and I encounter fewer roadblocks with it both conceptually and technically. I also aim to encourage viewers to be curious about the environment and to continue to learn about it, therefore taking better care of it and of each other.
Pen drawing created by Maria during her residency at FLBS
Tell us about your artistic background?
I was incredibly fortunate to grow up in an artistic home with my mother as a private art teacher and an amazing facilitator of my siblings and my creativity. I began joining her classes when I was around 8 years old learning basic art techniques and exploring various tools. I used these skills throughout art classes in public schools and then continued my education at the University of Akron (OH), where I earned a BA in Studio Art with a Minor in Painting and a Minor in Drawing. Since finishing undergrad, I have continued my art career part-time completing commission work, participating in local group and solo shows, and doing residencies.
Maria displaying inspiring materials from the forests at FLBS
To learn more about Maria, visit her website www.mariauhase.com & check out her Instagram @muhase72
