Maria Mazziotti Gillan

"My art comes from an instinctive place. In my watercolors and collages I try to do what I do in poetry—that is to let go, to allow the old wise woman who lives in my belly to take over.

Often when I’m writing a poem, after the first few lines it is as though the pen moves across the page almost by itself, operating out of the subconscious mind. I don’t allow my conscious mind to control what is going on in the poem. For me, the same thing happens when I am painting or building a collage. Allowing my imagination to take over, gives me the freedom to paint people or birds or flowers as they exist in my mind rather than in reality.

Whereas in my poetry, I try to root my work in the details and specificity of ordinary life, in my art I am not attempting to achieve realistic portrayals of people or birds or flowers. Rather I am trying to capture energy and feeling. I am trying to get the essence of the subject down on paper, to convey joy or sadness, exuberance or loss."


- Maria Mazziotti Gillan