Maria Tomasula 
Recure, 2002 
oil on panel 
16 x 14 inches

March 6 – April 5, 2003

Maria Tomasula: Second Nature is the debut exhibition at Forum Gallery for this Indiana based artist. Opening on March 6^th and continuing through April 5^th, over fifteen radiant still-life paintings by the artist will be on view. A full color catalogue with an essay by Douglas F. Maxwell will accompany the show. Maria Tomasula’s imagery portrays suffering and human foibles in compositions where fruit and flowers stand in for the universal person.

Maria Tomasula’s work is influenced by aspects of the icons and holy cards she absorbed as a child growing up in a Catholic milieu in and near the South Side of Chicago. Today, she creates a universe that simultaneously embraces and extends those traditions.  Similar to the Spanish artists Zurbaran, Sanchez Cotan and Melendez, her obsession with seeing the unseen while alluding to religious meaning is at the core of her work.  Her paintings, however, are more poetic and ambiguous, spiritual rather than religious, evocative rather than specific.

The paintings emerge from her imagination, which accounts for so much of their psychological depth. Her hand is precise in the creation of complex, emotive images painted with a rich palette.  The pictures have an intense realism highlighted by the use of shallow, theatrical space, which is often narrowed by her use of curtains, the high-key color of her glistening surfaces, and her preference for relatively symmetrical compositions. The almost specimen-like way she presents her components and the curious, unexpected juxtapositions of her pictorial actors add to the intensity of the works.

Maria Tomasula received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and then continued her education at Northwestern University, where she earned a Masters degree in Fine Arts. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame. Her recent exhibitions include one-person exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN and at the Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Chicago, IL.

Maria Tomasula: Second Nature opens with a reception on March 6 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm, and will be on view through April 5, 2003.

©2005 Forum Gallery