Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson

Kara Maria - Painter & Printmaker


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Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. 

This week, Emily chats with Kara Maria, a painter and printmaker based in San Francisco

Episode Highlights:

  • Kara discusses her large-scale wood panel print on display at Chase Center in San Francisco, created at Magnolia Editions in Oakland with master printer Tallulah Terrell
  • How a monarch butterfly painting became the starting point — and then had to be modified — for the Chase Center commission
  • Her colorful aesthetic, rooted in 1970s cartoons, Spirograph, comic books, and Japanese woodblock prints (particularly Hokusai)
  • The influence of her husband, Mexican artist Enrique Chaya, and their travels to Mexico on her color palette
  • Childhood memory of a school librarian who gave her a shelf in the library for her handmade illustrated books
  • Her journey from music school to painting — and why she knew she could never stop making art
  • Her love of Bay Area edges: the Marina, Ocean Beach, and the view from Mount Davidson
  • Why her studio, SF MoMA, the de Young, and the Legion of Honor all hold special meaning
  • About Artist Kara Maria: Kara Maria is a visual artist working in painting, drawing, printmaking, and public art. Her recent work addresses climate change, biodiversity loss, and their significant impact on humanity. She meticulously paints miniature portraits of threatened, endangered, and extinct animals amid fields of flying shapes, twisting lines, and swirling colors. These works celebrate the joy and exuberance of life, emphasizing the incredible variety of existence on our planet.

    Maria received her BA and MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has exhibited work in solo and group shows across the United States at venues such as the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University, CA; the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA; the Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; and the Katonah Museum of Art in New York.

    Maria has been selected for awards and honors, including the Masterminds Grant from SF Weekly; a grant from Artadia; and an Eisner Prize in Art from UC Berkeley. Her work has received critical attention in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, and Art in America. She has been awarded artist residencies at the Montalvo Arts Center, the Recology Artist in Residence Program, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the de Young Museum Artist Studio.

    Maria’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the San Jose Museum of Art, among others.

    Born in Binghamton, NY (1968), Kara Maria now lives and works in San Francisco, CA.

    Links & Resources:

    Visit Kara's Website: KaraMaria.com

    Follow Kara on Instagram:  @Kara Maria Art

    Kara Maria's work is on display at Chase Center as part of the Homegrown Series (alongside work by Masako Miki, featured in Episode 60) CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

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    Coming Up Next: Episode 70 on May 19th — Emery Douglas, graphic artist and former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party. His show Emery Douglas: In Our Lifetime is at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco through October.

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    About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:

    Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California MagazineLatino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.

    Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWil

    Follow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast

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    CREDITS:

    Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson

    Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

    The Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions

    For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com


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    Art Is Awesome with Emily WilsonBy Emily Wilson with Go-To Productions