Maria Patino

My artistic practice is rooted in intuition, material exploration, and the emotional resonance of memory. Through abstract mixed media paintings and artist books, I investigate the relationships between color, texture, form, and surface as vehicles for reflection, connection, and transformation. I am drawn to the physicality of materials and the way layered compositions can hold traces of time, presence, and lived experience.

Working with paper collage, paint, fabric, stitched elements, found imagery, and discarded ephemera, I create tactile surfaces that balance fragmentation and harmony. Scraps from old books, photographs, and weathered materials become recontextualized through layering and reconstruction, allowing memories, histories, and quiet emotions to emerge organically. My process is intuitive and experimental; each work develops through accumulation, erosion, and discovery.

Born in El Cairo Valle, a remote village in the Andes Mountains of Colombia, my connection to landscape, cultural memory, and migration continues to influence my work. Living between Colombia and the United States has shaped my awareness of identity, belonging, displacement, and adaptation. These experiences inform my visual language without defining...

MFA Savannah College of Art and Design, 2026
Major: Illustration

BFA School of Visual Arts, 2002
Major: Graphic Design