Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Pinz.
Maya, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Creating has always been a major piece of my identity. My mom worked in graphic design before my siblings and I were born, so she always encouraged artistic expression in our day-to-day life. I took art classes throughout my entire childhood. I loved art but despite the constant in-class doodling and encouragement from teachers, I honestly never saw it as my future career. I thought I was going to be a princess or a rockstar.
Beyond the typical creativity of childhood, art became a source of therapy and calm in my later years. As life got more complicated, I often struggled with communicating my feelings in a healthy way. Art became a way to not only communicate how I was feeling but a way to channel my emotions into something tangible and visual. Art became more than just a hobby and turned into a form of therapy. My true love of art came from its profound impact on my well-being.
I truly felt called to art in my teenage years as I discovered oil paint for the first time. I finally felt like I had found my niche and a true sense of purpose in my work. I created my first body of work based on the Seven Vices and Seven Virtues and used those pieces to apply to art schools. I settled on Columbus College of Art and Design because the city itself felt like somewhere my art could flourish.
Today, I have the incredible opportunity to work as a Gallery Assistant at Blockfort Gallery – where I had my first solo gallery exhibition in November 2022. The series – titled Growing Pains – detailed moments and familial relationships of my childhood and my – often difficult – transition into adulthood. In addition, I had works shown in the 83 Gallery Shows for November 2022 and January 2023, as well as work in the Blockfort show titled Nostalgia. I’m thrilled to continue sharing my work with Columbus and expand my reach in the community. I will be graduating early in December of 2023 as an Illustration Major and a Business Minor.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Pursuing art has not always been the easiest path. Coming from a family that struggled financially at times, accessibility and opportunity did not come easy. When I was very young, my mom had to make many sacrifices to help me pursue higher education and transition from a failing public school district to a private school. I had to wait several years to make that transition because we needed financial assistance, and they couldn’t initially give that to us. I often wonder where I would be if the financial aid had not come through – if I would have discovered my passion or pursued higher education at all. I felt like I was always a few steps behind because I did not have as much money as many of the people I knew growing up. I really didn’t know if I could make this a reality because of financial struggles.
Beyond that, the price of art supplies has always contributed to my struggles. It’s not easy to juggle work and school in today’s world – especially when your livelihood depends on it. I often feel overwhelmed when I have to buy new frames or I run out of paint – in addition to my student loans and things as simple as trips to the grocery store.
Emotionally speaking, art block is something I struggle with often. The burnout of needing to do schoolwork while also wanting to independently create is very real. There are sometimes weeks at a time that I need to not make anything at all. There are also times that my vision for my work doesn’t meet the outcome. Sometimes I expect too much of myself and by time my skill set has matched my previous vision, my expectations have grown to an unattainable level.
On the other hand, my best work sometimes comes from stress and emotional turmoil so it’s kind of a toss-up when it comes to art block.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My favorite medium to work with is oil paint. I love all the intricacies of the medium and the history behind it. I truly love art history and I think that’s partly where my love of oil paint comes from. In addition, I also love printmaking and traditional media illustration. I like to dabble in some digital illustration as well in my free time.
As for my artistic voice, my work has always been really personal. My goal is to create human connection and spark inner reflection about a variety of subjects. Often that is shown through my own personal trauma, identity exploration, religious critique, or politics. I was born and raised into a Catholic household in the City of Florissant in Saint Louis, Missouri. Learning more about religion and discovering my own beliefs outside of my upbringing as well as witnessing racial injustice in my community helped shape my artistic voice. I want to share my experiences and my feelings with others. Portrait work is really how I feel that connection can be best made. A human face is an image we all immediately recognize and can relate to. I try to take advantage of that. I don’t want people to see my art as a stale photo recreation, I want them to see their own past or their own self within my experiences and identity. I truly believe that is what sets me apart – the openness and vulnerability of my work.
I think my proudest moment as an artist was the completion of my show Growing Pains. Personally, the series felt like closing the chapter on my youth to continue into a new phase of my artistic career. I felt like I was able to work through my past to begin my future. I detailed intimate memories of my childhood and recreated them in a new way. But professionally, it was the first time I had created a body of work of that size and not only created the art itself, but built the frames, set up the show, and got to connect with other artists and the community.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Although it might seem really simple, the biggest advice I have for someone starting out is that you can only get out of your career what you put into it. You have to work hard to find the opportunities you want, and you have to actively find connections and work with other creative professionals that can help you on your way. Being an artist means you are competing against numerous incredibly talented people – it’s not going to come easy to you. You have to fight for your spot.
Seek help and support from others because it’s harder to do this alone. You will benefit from reaching out to other artists. There is a fine line between collaboration and competition and have to embrace both. If you truly put your best effort forward, more opportunities will come your way.
In addition, I think patience is the most valuable quality I can encourage for an artist beginning their journey. Patience is still really hard for me, but sometimes you simply need to wait for a good opportunity to come your way. You may have to wait months before a new commission or project comes about, but you have to continue working and growing regardless.
Success as an artist is not easily found, and I’m sure it will take me a really long time to feel that I have found success. I hope I can continue finding my success here in Columbus.
Contact Info:
- Website: mpinz1.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/art_by_mayap
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByMayaP
Image Credits
Madison VanCamp
