Artist Statement
Maya Irving's work explores catharsis through an embodied, performative process. Each piece begins as an intuitive call-and-response — an internal choreography that unlocks emotions held within the body. Through movement, gesture, and play, these sensations are mapped across both canvas and physical form.
Her practice is shaped by a dialogue between body, memory, and environment. Beginning often with a blindfolded charcoal drawing as an "emotional map," her process allows internal states to surface without the mediation of sight. Mark-making emerges as an embodied knowing, where gesture precedes understanding and painting becomes both inquiry and communication beyond rational language.
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