"Topography of two hearts" Collage

Maria Marinho Edgell’s diverse work incorporates painting, cutouts and tridimensional objects. Her most recent practice weaves multiple narratives that are drawn from her deep engagement with science.

Her earliest works consisted of abstract, nearly monochromatic paintings on canvas. The paintings feature compositions of textual blocks-like slabs of colour, using a palette knife to apply the paint in layers, to infer both personal memories and spirituality.

As Maria’s interest in science grew, so two did her fascination with the mystery and wander of the cosmos. This is reflected in the duality of the painting “black dwarf” represents both the big and the small: the last stage of stellar evolution and the colony of bacteria under a microscope.

In her most recent cut-outs series, “Topography of the body”, the artist represents the human vital organs, using cut-out on paper and scalpel knife as a tool, adding layer by layer like a topography map, sometimes combining with LED. Each piece represent narratives related to evolution and survival. “The body as a “machine”, design for survival, competing with the ecosystem and other species, shaped to reproduction”.

After studying painting at Camberwell College of Art in London U.K., Maria moved temporary to Hong Kong in 1999. She lives and works in between Porto and London.
Alongside her practice, she is highly regarded educator. Her work has been exhibited in London, Hong Kong and Portugal.