Maria Dimanshtein
I create work about what it means to be a human in the context of the Universe: living the everyday life with an awareness of the infinity of time and space. My collages, drawings and installations are intimate and poetic and are based on my own experiences.
I combine the mundane and the mysterious, juxtaposing elements of the daily reality with those of outer space and darkness of the void. I use dark colors along with white ink and shiny textures and incorporate my poetic writing into my visual work.
Some themes that I explore are: anxiety of freedom vs. comfort of the mundane, a yearning for a divine power, sexuality as a gateway to the sublime, and emotional states of being.
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I was born in Latvia and am currently based in Queens/Brooklyn. My installations, mixed media works and paintings have been shown in exhibitions throughout NYC and across the country at venues including Arcilesi and Homberg Fine Arts and Lesley Heller Projects in New York, Local Project in Queens, Trestle Gallery and Gallery 440 in Brooklyn, Arizona State University, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, Evanston Art Center and Galesburg Civic Art Center in IL. I have participated in 5 funded artist residency programs, including LindArt in Slovenia and Studioworks in Eastport, ME.
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In 2016 I was a recipient of Individual Artist Grant from Queens Council on the Arts.
I hold an MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University.- Maria Dimanshtein
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