Maya Graine

Today's Member Spotlight features Maya Graine:

"Maya Graine is a multi-media artist from Morrison, Colorado whose work focuses on disability and chronic illness. She uses performance, soft sculpture, and video to confront viewers with the uncanny "other," or the medicalized body. Her work often includes abject and grotesque imagery, which is inspired by the invasive surgeries and treatments she has undergone. Her goal is to grasp the attention of the able-bodied, and challenge their preconceptions about disability.

Graine is a first-year MFA-VA candidate at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Art from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her work was recently on display at the European Culture Centre’s Palazzo Mora during the 2024 Venice Biennial. She always has her studio at Sam Fox open to the public, with a rotating display of in-progress and finished works. It is important to her to be open about her experiences with chronic pain in order to de-stigmatize the topic, so she invites questions about her artwork and its connection to disability."

Maya is often joined in the studio by her dogs, Doughboy and Pretzel Dog when she is working - but they are not able to join when Maya is doing a performance piece as they will want to join in with her! Maya has a desire to "start a collective of disabled creatives, run by members of the disability community, and inclusive of all types of disabilities" and would love to hear from anyone who would be interested in a similar venture! You can email Webster Arts to connect with Maya!

You will be able to see more of Maya's work later this Spring with other first-year Sam Fox MFA students. A location is yet to be determined but more information will be available on the Sam Fox website.