This collection was created over time as I've felt myself increasingly drawn to the simplicity of being close to the ocean where I grew up. During this period of transition creatively there has also been a yearning for simplicity and minimalism. A way of just being in a space without the element of time.

Inspired on the Primal Soup - the origin of all Life. All images were captured underwater where the power of imagery is to capture life that moves. What happens before or after the shot is equally intriguing. A sense of mystery and wonder about the natural world. The infinite possibility of the elements are explored 

This collection of images result from the site specific art exhibition "ONE" in Lisbon. A  piece that explores our deep human connection to Oceans and to each other. 

https://www.oceanario.pt/en/exhibitions/one-the-ocean-as-you-never-felt-it/

INFINITY

An ode to minimalism.

This project is a first toward abstracted, non-literal representation. 

A work that sets out to visually represent the essence of things. 

By removing the human element, form is more supple and able to exist organically in its environment. The result is that each form takes on a life of its own with the elements of light and movement moulding as they can only underwater. 

A true collaboration with nature. 

In this context, Water is co-creator. Light and density are fundamental in the creative process. 

That which emerges is a metaphor for nature set free…

FORM

The Other Avatars is the first of its kind and a project that only Saatchi Art could make a reality: a series of handmade, originally-designed, and stylistically-varied avatars created by an international collective of hundreds of artists selected by our curators. 
This project is the first step into the Crypto environment for Saatchi Art. My approach to this project was to marry traditional with contemporary styles with each avatar taking on a life of its own. The works are experimental yet attempt to pay homage to the original artist.

THE OTHER AVATARS NFT PROJECT

This series started in 2013 where professional dancers were shot in an underwater stage.  The healing power of art and water are intertwined taking the viewer on a journey of surrender

UNDERWATER

Portraits of individuals who have inspired curiosity captured over a period of a decade. A minimalst style so the focus is purely on subject with light and character as the main creative tool. 

The series is the result of deeply collaborative work with a subject. An exploration of the mystery of human nature and what lies beneath an aesthetic, it is here that I find the creative process at its most rewarding.

SELF

Dance images captured on stage using light as a creative tool. The focus is on movement itself rather than on bodies. The collection serves as a metaphor for a ‘flow’  state that occurs when dancers have trained / performed a particular choreography so many times that technique becomes second nature. In this state  they are absolutely ‘at one’ with movement & music. This allows a dancer to surrender & therefore loose themselves to the creative act.

Companies include:  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Rambert, Ballet Revolucion, Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance, Eva Yerbabuena, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), Russell Maliphant, Random Dance & Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui amongst others.

LIGHT

A study of the unseen female psyche. 
Experimental underwater portrait shoot using acrylics. A special creative collaboration with Lee Coventry. Exploring the concepts of female beauty and identity while drawing our attention to the relatively new pressure women can find ourselves under in order to create and maintain a constructed / assembled identity both in front of and behind the screen.

GLASS

Swan symbolism and meaning can conjure images of purity, innocence and magic. Swan is also associated with transformations such as death and rebirth. This project arose as a result of a sense of deep aliveness, truth, purity and spiritual connection. The series was created as a result of a chance encounter with a wild swan who displayed unusual sensitivity, loyalty and grace. It inspired a surprising collection of waterfowl as texture and form. A symbol of grace that can only be uncovered in the natural world.

Maya Almeida