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Maria Mercado

Dual elements of passion and emotion permeate her work and share a place alongside the desire to experiment - to awaken form, texture, tonality, dimension, and color in the creation of her work. This experimental quality gives Maria's paintings a rawness and ferocity that evokes elements of the natural world, a world that she readily embraces in both her art and life.

Although mostly acrylic in composition, the use of alternative media and found objects adds dimension to her work on both a physical and metaphysical level. In this way her paintings become a requiem, a sanctuary, a vehicle to express her emotions. Maria does not seek to command the canvas through her work, but instead allows the paint and her inner conscious to express themselves freely. Sometimes erotic, sometimes melancholic, Maria's paintings flow with energy and a zest for life. Maria's paintings challenge us to look within ourselves, and to embrace the emotions that shape our daily lives.