"Vivienne" Print

“My work explores the playful, the uncanny, and the curious within figurative and still-life forms.” - Maria Pelton Certain motifs appear repeatedly, an intriguing face, the intricate form of an insect, a time-worn vessel. Each carrying emotional weight and symbolic potential, often drawing on the vanitas tradition. Portraits reveal glimpses of a person's inner world, objects hint at human presence and take on personality, and insects serve as metaphors for life cycles, decay, and transformation. By assigning human qualities to these varied motifs, I investigate character, identity, and individuality. With each piece, I explore the unknown, finding wonder in the playful ways life can appear strange and compelling. I am inspired by art history, portraiture, still life, and the natural world, particularly expressive faces, unusual forms in nature, and contrasts between beauty and the bizarre. Somewhere between intention and instinct, my mischievous artworks develop a life of their own, balancing light and dark, the serious and the surreal. I invite you into my imagined world, a space where overlooked objects take on an uncanny life and strange characters eerily come alive.