
MARIA LEITE
As an abstract artist, I use visual language to explore what lies beneath the surface emotionally, socially, and politically. My work is driven by a desire to question and deconstruct accepted realities, to make the invisible visible, and to invite reflection on our shared and divergent experiences. Through abstraction, I find the freedom to express stories that cannot yet be fully told, truths that live in metaphor, and emotions that resist categorization.
I draw from a wide spectrum of practices—painting, drawing, collage, and photography. My background in education, diversity studies, and theater inform how I construct narratives around power, exclusion, positionality, and identity. Whether through blurred seascapes reflecting climate anxiety, towering forms symbolizing oppression, or intimate sketches born of meditation, each piece represent both release and resistance.
I work with intuition and intention. The process is as important as the result and often begins with photography, meditation, or drawing sketches before paint touches the surface. My abstractions simplify complex realities not to diminish them, but to distill their essence. Art, for me, is not only expression—it is inquiry, protest, and survival.
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Photo: @cafecomlens - Luana Souza