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American, Born 1968, Binghamton, New York / Lives in San Francisco, California

Kara Maria's work is a visual dialogue between abstraction and representation in paintings, drawings, and prints. She borrows from the broad vocabulary of contemporary painting, blending geometric shapes, vivid hues, brushmarks, and stains with a host of social and environmental concerns seen through flashes of representational elements. Although many issues are referenced, the work itself remains non-linear, seeking to raise questions rather than to give answers.

After beginning college at a music conservatory on the East Coast, transferring through a few different schools, and spending a year studying and traveling in Europe, Kara Maria moved to San Francisco in 1990 to attend the University of California, Berkeley. There she earned a BA in Art Practice in 1993, followed by an MFA in 1998.

Maria's work can be found in permanent collections including the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; the di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA; the de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA among others. She has been the recipient of awards such as a Masterminds Grant from the SF Weekly, San Francisco, CA; a grant from Artadia, New York, NY; and an Eisner Prize from the University of California, Berkeley. She has completed artist residencies at Recology Artist in Residence Program, San Francisco, CA; Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Woodside, CA; and will be a Lucas Fellow at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA from 2015-16. Presses including Gallery 16, San Francisco; Shark's Ink, Lyons, CO; and Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA have published her prints. Maria is represented by Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA. For more information please visit www.karamaria.com.

Artist Link: www.karamaria.com