* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Maya Freelon is an artist from Durham, NC.
Maya describes her work by saying, “In 2005 I discovered a beautiful accident in my grandmother’s basement; a stack of tissue paper was stained by water from a leaking pipe. Finding the watermarked paper changed the trajectory of my artistic career. Over the course of a decade I have experimented with tissue paper in a myriad of ways and patented several creative processes including Tissue Ink Monoprints, which is a complex application of dyeing paper and blending ink onto another substrate. When the tissue paper is dried, it’s ripped and reformed into Tissue Quilts and recycled sculptures. I also create Tissue Spirals out of paper, using the smallest scraps and tape. My most recent experimentation incorporates the use of a pottery wheel, which creates a visual vortex, resulting in Spinning Tissue Ink Monoprints, and Spinning Tissue Ink Mono/Photo Prints.”
Maya Angelou once described her work as "visualizing the truth about the vulnerability and power of the human being."
She was commissioned by Google to design original art for their OnHub router and by Cadillac to create a live sculpture for their Dare Greatly creative campaign.
Maya was selected by Modern Luxury Magazine as Best of the City; by Huffington Post as "Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know"; and by Complex Magazine as "15 Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Art World."
"Maya Freelon is a brilliant artist. She created a new artform --tissue paper monoprints--using recycled tissue paper in all of her artwork. Her large tissue paper installations use innovative techniques, as well as, those of traditional quilt making. Many of her projects are collaborative and involve community participation. For many reasons, Maya is an artist to follow and collect."
