Maya Whitner: Conceptual Motion

An undercurrent of tension and mystery is often present in Maya Whitner’s artwork, the result of her avid curiosity and fascination with dichotomy and the all-present connectivity found in life.  Her welded nail pieces exhibit her unique process playing with opposition through the use of texture and an unexpected new context.  These forms take a common object of harsh and rigid nature and, by using pattern and the unity of one next to the other, the object becomes both flowing and fixed.  The hard nail transforms into an organic gently curving and virtually soft new structure possessing a new purpose.  These pieces are constructed from repetitious and deliberate motion that becomes a meditation, every nail carefully placed in relation to the next.  Her cast forms and drawings are very process oriented as well and reflect slow deliberate mindful action and sensitivity.  Her current exhibition includes working concepts regarding relationship, connectivity, devotion, and spiritual practice.

Maya says, “My work is often sensually based with forms derived from the natural world and human nature or emotions universally shared. I love West Marin for it’s wild lands in which I find endless creative inspiration.”

From a young age Maya Whitner was encouraged to express herself through both visual arts and years of formal music training in classical harp. She earned her degree with highest academic and artistic honors from Skidmore College.  She has worked professionally in the museum industry as an art handler/installer, fabricator and builder and worked with art object conservation and fine frame restoration. She also taught sculpture at the Baltimore School for the Arts. After moving to West Marin, she focused  more on her own creative work. In Bolinas, she has worked professionally as a steel and sheet metal fabricator, jeweler and pre-school teacher, while privately pursuing her passion as a sculptor.