Chinese fortune

"Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness."

Pink Cherry Blossoms

Pink Cherry Blossoms
Floating in an April breeze
Candy almond scent

by: maria makki

Winter Came Slowly

Winter came slowly
Covered everything in snow
Underneath, silence

by: maria makki

Kyoto Mountains

Kyoto Mountains
Color of Aduki beans
A camellia grows

by: maria makki

El Adios

El Adios, by Maria Makki, is a poignant expression of a universal experience of love: the inevitable separation and ensuing grief that all pairs of lovers must endure sooner or later when one lover passes away before the other. The concept for the painting was inspired by C.S. Lewis’ “A Grief Observed” a collection of personal notes written by the author himself, which describes the grieving process he went through after losing his wife to cancer. El Adios depicts a man cleaving to the lifeless body of his wife. The expression on his face is one of anguish, terror and denial as well as one of tenderness. His body language speaks volumes as well. The man is running, holding on tightly to his wife’s body, as a desperate part of him believes he can elude death and certain separation from his beloved companion. The surroundings create important tension in the painting. The dark mountains that fall sharply towards the turbulent sea and the waves crashing violently near the man’s feet collectively seem to be closing in on the man as though to remind him of the futility of his actions and refusal to let go. There is no place the man can run to that will keep his wife safe from death nor restore to him his old life with her. The ominous mountains, ocean and sky accentuate the earthly life the man is still bound to despite his wife’s departure from it. The rays of light emanating from the clouds have a spiritual and physical significance. In one sense, they represent the passing on of the spirit to “another” world that is commonly associated with the act of dying. By dissecting the woman and dividing her into many small colorful pieces, the rays of light also convey the breakdown of the physical body that occurs after death as well as the fragmentation and ultimate demise of the communal life the man and the woman once shared. Her death translates into the bifurcation that forces the two lovers down different paths without knowing if they will ever meet again.

Il Bacio del Perdono

Il bacio del perdono

Il bacio del perdono (The Kiss of Forgivness) is the third piece of the series “Uomo e Donna.” Like the other paintings preceding it in this series, it represents a man and a woman in a semi-abstract fashion by using dramatic colors and simplifying the human form into its geometrical essentials. In this painting, however, the man and the woman are not embracing each other as they are in “Sensibilitá di donna” and “Il Pescatore e la sirena.” They are sitting on the floor hunched-over, facing opposite directions and seemingly, upset at one another. Nevertheless, a closer examination of their body language—the points of contact between their two bodies—and the expressions on their faces reveals something more. The vibrant reds and oranges dominating the background represent the intensity of emotions the couple is experiencing and meant to create a great contrast along side the cool blues, purples and greens dispersed throughout the painting. Said contrast embodies the disharmony of the moment. While the large indigo window set in the background is a critical element for the painting’s composition, its violet-blue hues provide the viewer’s eye with a “resting” area which naturally frames the man and the woman’s telltale faces. The indigo window also serves to symbolize a metaphorical window into their minds, one which represents a desire for union and peace and which is always present even during the fiercest moments of a conflict.

Il pescatore e la sirena

Il pescatore e la sirena

Il pescatore e la sirena (The Fisherman and the Mermaid) is the second painting of the series “Uomo e Donna” by Maria Makki. The dominating color scheme is made up of a palette of creamy blues and sea-greens. At the same time, the two subjects, the fisherman and the mermaid, which define the painting's strong composition, are composed of vividly colored shapes and forms. The contrast between these two--the serene blues of the background (including the fisherman's head and the mermaid's tail) and the bright multi-colored bodies—is a critical element not only for its visual power but also for its capacity to convey the intensity of the bond that exists between the fisherman and the mermaid. Outside the window, one can see a violent storm is unleashing its fury and waves are crashing against a sandy shore. Inside the fisherman's modest home, however, the mermaid sleeps peacefully, nestled in the fisherman's arms.

Like Paul Cézanne, who wanted to treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere and the cone, Makki is interested in the simplification of naturally occurring forms to their geometrical essentials. The fisherman's arm, for instance, is represented as a cone split in half.

The different textures created by altering brushstroke techniques is another important element of this piece. The bodies are composed of thin, long brushstrokes of an array of blues, greens, yellows, pinks, and purples and so on, while the background was painted with thick, messy brushstrokes of a limited color palette. The Mermaid's tail, however, has the most unique texture, as it was painted emulating the pointillism technique made famous by the founder of neoimpressionism, George-Pierre Seurat.