https://mariawelchart.com/work-avenue daily 1.0 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1522725803810-NBPLLU6KSS038U1XK5L9/IMG_0281.JPG Work - Coalesce (2018) 24 Handmade kozo sheets embedded with dirt and sealed with beeswax; bound in an accordion structure; 11 1/2" x 9 3/8" x 2 " This book examines the aggregation of taxing life experiences. Coalesce begins with compiling dirt and at various intervals finger marks appear in an attempt to remove this dirt, but ultimately ends with fully covered dirt pages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1513311087102-WGK5IWKZAEXDSIETY2UX/IMG_8930.JPG Work - A Cathartic Remembrance (2017) A Cathartic Remembrance exmaines grief and its distorting effect on memory. This project was born out of a desire to address my grief and visually represent the memories that engulfed my conscious. This work demonstrates my attempt at recovery, and allows me to express rather than suppress my grief; my art is my catharsis. In creating this work I revisited my own narrative and expanded upon it through a series of interview-like interactions called the prompted listening sessions. In these sessions I developed a more nuanced understanding of grief by contextualizing my own experience with respect to various members of my family. Notes from the listening sessions can be found in the artist book A Shared Memory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1532876400809-3001M2UC7G77U1M07JJU/IMG_6853.JPG Work After loosing access to a printing press, I ventured to figure out how to print without a real press during the summer of 2018. My “studio” was a plastic fold out table I covered with a sheet, a large piece of plexi, a broken mirror for ink, and my car as the press. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1594398189050-CX7GBJULANOATUIFKPIF/full.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1576622556332-JUH62XP11L3BGOZIGOQ7/full+angled.jpg Work - Untitled (2019) Handmade flax and abaca paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1641057379554-DJKFTDZKEYHVBX53NS7P/Welch_Erratic+Obsession-5.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1642356572497-LZKPO67J4JI6GGY9VZK3/Corner_Welch_high+res.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1641073881069-58ENLIB6KG8GVA563GRB/oregano.jpg Work Untitled, handmade paper, 2021. This book is one of over 20 artist books that are the result of my performance Release. During Release all of the sculptures I had created prior to the pandemic were flatten, disassembled, and then bound to create these books. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/1641073156203-BSA0GZ8WZ3H97C9YUQT6/Release+still+15.jpg Work Release, 2021. Release is a performance and collaboration with Amalia Avilés-Lugo documented with the assistance of Sara Moose-Torres. During this piece Amalia and I deconstruct the 20+ handmade paper sculptures that were destined for our 2020 MFA thesis show that was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Release was performed in Wissahickon Valley Park outside Philadelphia. The performance is two and half hours long and the full video will be available at a later date. https://mariawelchart.com/about-1 daily 0.75 2023-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/2b13f0d5-6e8b-4604-a3c8-8f2c4923d402/Welch_Insta_feature1.jpg About Maria Welch (they/she) is graduate of the MFA Book Arts and Printmaking program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. They received their BA in Studio Art with a minor in Art History from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. Welch’s work has received recognition across a variety of platforms, most recently they were awarded the 2020 Holle Award for Excellence and Creativity in Book Arts from The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences. Welch has exhibited nationally at venues such as the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, OH, and Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, CO. Their work is also included in several permanent collections such as the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, University of Nevada, and SGC International. https://mariawelchart.com/new-page daily 0.75 2022-01-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a32c632f6576eb27a25e743/beb04465-e431-4de4-98a6-8c2d9f0316a7/IMG-7646.jpg Artist Statement - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.