Mariah Majakey

About Mariah Majakey

In my ongoing series of oil paintings, I intend to create compositions made up of figures in various states of vulnerability. I am interested in the calm, yet fleeting, moments we each hang onto while treading water in an “ocean” that is the human experience: the socialized notion that our worthiness is inherently based on our maximization of productivity. We all look forward to the few grounded moments of intimacy in between the unrelenting pace of life, especially in recent generations of postmodern western cultures. My paintings come from a place of intimacy, where I depict authentic instances of affection, either among people or of oneself. Altogether, I intend for a familiar sense of euphoria to be communicated from the hazy surroundings in these paintings, whether it be meditating in nature or a half-memory of a good moment with a friend in any mundane environment. How have we lost touch with natural sensations through time?

Biography

I am an artist from West Virginia who specializes in oil painting and explores different blends between realism and abstraction. I became interested in generalized fine art as a pre-teen through helping my stepmother on her photoshoots, but doubted to consider it as a serious walk of life. When I first tried painting in 2015, I was interested in the human body juxtaposed against natural landscapes. Having been brought up in West Virginia, a connection is shared between Appalachian artists and the grounding influence of nature. I wanted to emphasize the relationship between our natural environment and femininity. After jumping around undergraduate programs, and while strengthening the confidence to self-express through visual art, I experimented with different mediums and eventually obtained a BFA in painting from WVU’s College of Creative Arts, while maintaining continued interest in sculpture and printmaking. Through a community of supportive visual artists and mentors in my college town of Morgantown, West Virginia, I’ve so far presented artworks in creative magazines, literary publications, art salons, online and regional exhibitions, and city arts walks.