Maria Morales

Artist Statement

Maria Morales is a visual artist born in Portugal and currently residing in New Jersey, USA. Working with acrylic paint, markers, inks, collage, and a variety of various mark making tools, Morales’s paintings are a reflection of her inner thoughts and emotions, her struggles to reconcile and overcome childhood trauma, and her triumphs. Painting abstractly allows the freedom and opportunity to showcase her feelings, intuition, ideas, and individual expression.

Morales uses an interplay of colors along with shapes, marks, and sometimes collage material to give the work structure and interest. Paint is applied with brushes, palette knives, random squirts, stencils, patterns, and textures on wood or canvas. Color fields contain soft variations whether in dark areas or light and the random applications of paint adds spontaneity and interest.

In this time of social unrest, economic upheaval, government overreach, and human cruelty, Morales feels compelled to create work representing ethereal, happy, uplifting feelings, and memories keeping herself sane and empathetic by escaping to the studio and creating from a place of love, gratitude, and compassion. Love for the beauty and abundance of nature around us, gratitude for all she has, and compassion for our fellow humans. The artist hopes the viewer can take a small respite and feel the pleasure and beauty of life even amongst the tumultuous energy all around us.