Maya Mekira is a member of the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory
Maya Mekira is a contemporary artist working in four mediums: sculpture, painting, manga style and illustrations drawing, and sculptural painting. She always tries to create works that give the viewer the impression that they are breathing.
Maya was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and grew up in Tokyo. Her mother was a picture book collector. The little Maya, who couldn’t read the word yet opened the picture book and watched the pictures. There were also many pop-up books. It was her first encounter with art. She loved being in nature. She has loved flowers, insects, animals and other familiar creatures since she was a child and she called them friends. Her imagination grew because of her relationship with those creatures.
It was her childhood experience that laid the foundation for the worldview that created Maya’s fantasy art. Her mother had a hobby of making small clowns out of clay and making, and handwritten picture books. The little Maya had a visual mastery of those techniques.
Her mother wasn’t just creative; she was alcoholic and mentally ill. She has taken care of her mother and younger brothers since she was a child. Her mother hated her being valued in the arts field at school and opposed or broke her dream of becoming an artist. She became free when her mother died. She started making art works and entered in various publicly sponsored exhibitions in Japan and group exhibitions abroad.
Maya Mekira gained attention because she was self-taught artist, so she used unique materials and new arts and crafts techniques. Her art works were sold in group exhibitions and received many prizes. Her collected works were exhibited in galleries in Tokyo and chosen for the special exhibitions. Furthermore, her artworks have appeared in the Swiss, Japan, France and New York.
Now she lives in a place full of nature surrounded by mountains. A belief that “Every living thing has a story to tell and feelings to convey” is the basis of the world view from which her wonderland art is made. She is researching ways to convey the stories she envisions to people through her works.
If you imagine that even just one leaf that has fallen under our feet has emotions, the world we live in begins to overflow with stories. Maya Mekira’s art reflects her ideology that all living things in this world have emotions and that all stories are from emotions. She creates works that explore and tell the stories that surround us.
Maya’s inspiration comes from her past experiences and the natural life of all living things. She is impressed and captivated by the way of life that nature shows me. In her creative process, she’s particular about the handworks, using eco-friendly materials wherever possible. By doing so, we will raise people’s awareness of consideration for the environment and bring about an affinity with nature and people in the artwork itself.
Her goal as an artist is to create work that encourages people to find emotions and stories, regardless of the type of creature. It is Maya’s hope that her art will act as a catalyst to change for people’s awareness of others and their perception of the natural environment, And she hope that it will help to raise interest in life on earth.
Her sculpture “Emotional Balloon”, she considers, our emotions are like balloons. They would expand slightly, fully, all at once, or little by little… Sometimes it cracks due to some kind of stimulus, and sometimes it shrinks and disappears over time. Sometimes they soar high and lively, or they may float somewhere in the heart next to unforgettable memories.
She creates sculptures that express emotions by reflecting human-like facial expressions on balloons. The inspiration for emotional balloons comes from people’s expressions and voices in various situations. Maya continues to be fascinated by the emotions that form the source of facial expressions and voices. And her belief that all stories are born from emotion and that emotions add colorful to life inspires me to develop a variety of balloons. During the creation process, materials are brought home from surplus wood waiting to be incinerated at lumber factories.
Maya care for the earth by choosing materials that have minimal impact on the natural environment. Emotional Balloon Project, which started in 2019. Her final goal is to lead people to a dimension where they can continue to respect each other’s hearts, feel joy and love, and celebrate the beauty of emotions, regardless of the type of person or creature.
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