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traces of nature

In Maria Hall's new works, two worlds meet - the world of nature and that of abstraction. The watercolored monotypes are filled with memory traces: of carvings, whirls, threads and clippings. In her painting, Maria Hall creates images that depict the memory of nature, rather than nature itself. The same can be said of the monotypes, where pine cones, seeds and maple keys have left their imprint directly in the paper. Each image is an original where the artist has painted directly on the plate. When the print is run through the press, the ink is transferred to the paper and the objects leave a mark like an embossing in the thick cotton paper. And then the process begins all over again. Details in the pictures are painted with watercolor, before the works are completed.

The work has been carried out together with printmaker Siv Johansson in her printmaking workshop in Björkhagen in southern Stockholm, a process that the artist describes as playful and fun-filled.

Maria Hall studied at Valand Art School in Gothenburg and the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Her painting has been exhibited throughout Sweden, including at a large solo exhibition at Vandalorum in 2018. Read more about her here



Details from Maria Hall's monotypes - the imprint of a pine needle...


...maple keys...


...and an oak leaf.


Even the back side of the print is beautiful, where the mark left by the oak leaf shows all the way through the paper.