Artist's Statement

Some of my work starts with simply completing an assignment I might give myself to paint from life, or complete a simple sculptural task, which then takes off in a very specific, pointed direction. There is always an interest of and in, process. I may research on social or cultural phenomena I am interested in, or simply create characters with a backstory. I might also create a piece just for the need to create it. For decades, the common denominator of this content is about combining-- and perhaps for most of that time unconsciously; how physically, conceptually, as well as spiritually, the process of being in studio is. A lot of my paintings emerge in bright palettes full of color. These themes can often carry shadows however, which are made much more affable by that color, and other more formal choices. I think one attempt or idea is to somehow integrate what is recognizable with the unexamined, or sometimes hidden which is what happens in the active process of most of my work. Like any other artist, creating meaning becomes about how, we allow it to enter into or become the vehicle to make sense of our lives. Often thought to be surreal or rife with visual metaphors that tangle with abstraction, most of the works are quite literally illustrations laden with stories and ideas of who we are & what themes we are confronted by and with, in this human experience.

Maria LaCreta studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has exhibited locally at the Somerville Museum, the Somerville Media Center, Aeronaut Brewery, in Boston at The Distillery Gallery, and in several artist run galleries, including Calico Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Her work is in local, national, and private collections from Cambridge, MA to Zurich, Switzerland. LaCreta has garnered support from the Somerville Arts Council for local projects, and works out of her Somerville studio.