2007-09-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

About the Artist

Maria grew up on Orcas Island off the coast of Washington State. The rugged beauty of her northwest surroundings encouraged her artistic inclinations as well as inspired a thoughtful and introspective questioning of humanity. During her studies at Bowdoin College, a focus on Art History and the Visual Arts refined this exploration, directing her attention to the details of human experiences presented through artistic expressions. Maria learned to dissect and analyze how she fit into the world on a level that did not seek a spectator’s vantage, but rather a position geared for full action. Maria also learned to focus her attention and become immersed into her creations. This attention to detail and the immersion, whether researching early nineteenth century Mexican muralists or creating visual art that challenged one’s perception of the world, became the standard by which subsequent endeavors were measured.

While working in one of Washington D.C.’s premier art galleries and the Smithsonian’s Freer Sackler Gallery of Art, Maria felt inspired to pursue a career utilizing her own creativity. She now enjoys working as a graphic designer with Trilogy Design Group in downtown Norfolk, VA. Her career as a graphic designer is complimented by her love of the fine arts and the experience with producing her own pieces.

About the Intimate Series

Maria Mandle's Intimate Series is an in-depth study of human intimacy and the beauty of surrendering and committing one's life to another. To illustrate this concept, Maria uses a style that can be described as abstract realism. Each piece captures an abstracted moment of intimate expressions of love rendered meticulously in a photorealistic style using graphite.

This style combined with the scale of the image in relation to the size of the paper on which it is presented culminates in an experience that can only be described as drawing the viewer in to the intimate moment itself. In this way, Maria hopes to engage and remind viewers to appreciate the importance of focusing on the minute and fleeting moments of life; particularly those spent with the ones you love.

Intimate Series in the News!

2007-09-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Maria's work was singled out from hundreds of other artists by DC-based art critic Lennox Campello at Artomatic 2007.

"Maria Mandle was the first artist to make my list. I've never heard of this artist before, and thus she's "new" to me. I liked her strong graphite drawings." Read the Article

http://dcartnews.blogspot.com/2007/04/view-of-art-o-matic-after-one-visit-how.html

Intimate I

2007-09-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Intimate II

2007-09-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

Intimate III

2007-09-10T18:26:00.001-07:00

Introspective

2007-09-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

Closer I

2007-09-10T18:22:00.001-07:00

Closer II

2007-09-10T17:59:00.001-07:00

The Intimate Series