Past Works
Maya Narkus-Kramer
Maya is an American artist currently residing and working in Shanghai, China. Maya’s work explores the human relationship to the environment through immersive installations and sculptures. Some are made from the pollutants themselves: coal and fake diamonds made into a night sky; a tiger skull constructed from laundry detergent and designed to dissolve during an installation; or a jungle crafted from the pages of The New York Times.
During her residency, Maya made paper casts of tree areas, made rubbings from the weathered wood of barn and tool sheds, and made cutout drawings reflecting the shapes of the growing flora and fauna. After returning to Shanghai, she described the rural area:
The nature there is stunning and overwhelming in its power. The clouds, the fireflies, the sunsets, the lightening storms. It was marvelous to behold but also humbling to be reminded that nature is thoroughly amoral.
Maya has also created several sculptures based on the tree rubbings and molds she made during her residency.
I aimed for these sculptures to feel ethereal and anthropomorphic, like a fossil from the future, and for the most part they do.
Maya was accepted to the Arctic Circle residency in the summer of 2023 and will spend two weeks with a select group of artists and scientists, sailing around and experiencing the arctic while working on research or art projects.