Description
We are excited to be able to offer for sale a pensive artwork titled “Forest Spirit” (2019), signed by Romanian artist Maria Bălan. The artwork is a part of Maria’s personal campaign against illegal logging, which is also made public on the streets through paste-ups featuring characters from her “Anomalica” series.
“The first linocut of the year, a forest spirit and her totem animal, the raven. Same old subject, different approach. Study for a bigger composition.” – Maria Bălan
130×170 mm object / paste-up of 100×180 mm handmade linoprint / Caligo Safe Wash relief ink on Laurier Schut cotton paper / reclaimed brick / only one available
The technique used by the artist is handprinted linocut and paste-up on reclaimed brick. The work is done manually, including printing.
A one-of-a-kind artwork, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the artist.
The “Forest Spirit” artwork was exhibited during the Romanian Design Week 2019, in the Central Exhibition, as part of Save or Cancel’s Un-hidden Bucharest multidisciplinary installation, during the Un-hidden x Acuarela exhibition, as part of the NAG 2019 edition, and during the Un-hidden Romanian Culture exhibition at Galeria Imbold / Acuarela, in January 2020.
See other limited edition manual linocut and reduction wood prints from the “Anomalica” series, such as The Punishment woodprint, The Mimetic Tree as a woodcut or linocut, together with the linocut printed t-shirts for both women and men, the Three Unwise Humans women and men linocut printed t-shirts, the Humanoprop I and II paste-up on reclaimed bricks, or the Anomalica & Fete și Elemente (Girls and Elements) sets, each containing 5 laminated stickers.
About Maria Bălan
Maria Bălan is a multilaterally developed graphic artist who studied Graphic Arts at the National University of Arts Bucharest and a non-practising architect having studied at the Architecture at the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu”. She is based Bucharest, Romania, a freelancer since 2007 and a member of Plastic Artists’ Union from Romania and Illustrators’ Club Romania. Maria enjoys painting walls, creating book illustrations as well as digital artwork (concept art, 2D animation, poster design) with the main focus on portraits and human expressions. Her work has been recognized with The Prize of The International Poster and Book Illustration Biennial For Young Artists, Timisoara, 2013.
In October 2018, she presented her first solo exhibition, “Neștiuții“, a personal project that consists in assembling and illustrating a painful reality that is ignored by the authorities, but also by us, ordinary people who walk every day on the streets and notice at least one case that I call “the unknown”, beings left to chance, which society prefers to keep somewhere on its border, namely street people. She revealed her amazing teaching skills during the Un-hidden Bucharest children’s linocut workshop in 2018. In 2019, she displayed her recent works in the Rampa One @ Plant Village collective exhibition alongside John Dot S and Rober Obert and in the Un-hidden Bucharest participation in the Romanian Design Week 2019, Central Exhibition, the Multidisciplinary section.
Read our interview with Maria Bălan, published in January 2019.
Follow Maria on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.