Maria Amalia Wood
Comunión
Media: Wood, abaca pulp, cotton pulp, indigo dye, disperse pigments
Size: 31" x 30" x 96"
$4500
Artist Statement:
Informed by the weathering process that happened to my house in Honduras after we immigrated to the United States, and by a life lived more than 92 years, also in a state of slow deterioration, my work uses the transformative process of papermaking to explore passage of time. When I reflect on my grandma’s life journey layered with experiences both joyful and challenging, I think about the peeling, cracking, chipping, and oxidizing of surfaces throughout my childhood home. These beautiful textures are embedded with memories, narratives, and a history that until this day define an essential part of my cultural identity.
Using handmade paper processes, I manipulated the wet pulp, working freely, creating marks and passages that evolved organically, building an image with layered, ripped, dyed, and collaged forms, recreating textured surfaces similar to the ones found in my childhood home.
Biography
A native of Honduras, Maria Amalia maintains a studio in Middleton, Wisconsin. With a creative process that embraces a personal and socially engaged art practice, her work delves into the complexities of a life lived between Central America and the Midwestern United States. Maria Amalia holds a bachelor’s degree in General Art with a minor in Visual Communications from Judson University and an MFA in Textile Art and Design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Working intuitively, she draws upon material culture and the natural environment to create beautiful marks that refer to specific memories of lived experiences.
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