Original artwork

Edition 1 of 1 

Paint on repurposed London bus panel

73 x 48cm

The work of French artist Maïa Régis denies the need for horizon, setting, or subject, blurring its theme several times over in the same painting. Life is breathed into her canvases from her anthropological fascination in the fellow human, a gift given to her by her family. Her mother, a filmmaker and anthropologist instilled in her the value of character and the ways in which one’s environment shapes it. Her father, also an artist, inspired her with his own work through his style and stories told. Régis, in this way, builds a world for a figure in or out of the canvas.

She often adorns a portrait with food for them to eat, films to entertain, or memories to reminisce upon all the while retaining the beauty of visual balance. Memories are a key part of her practice in order to fully flesh out the living canvas, imbuing each with a history. The recollection of events, both personal and shared, is the seed from which her images are born. It is in this way cultures and its people are appreciated, from the artist’s holistic perspective revealing the tender simplicities of a place; it's food, imports, animals, fashion, or pastimes. The work of Maïa Régis is honest in that it does strive for a cohesive theme, but revels in the disarray of life.