‘When it comes to my art, I’m not trying to turn out a figure’

This story is part of Image issue 12, “Commitment,” where we explore why Los Angeles is the land of true believers. At times, she doesn’t even realize she is making an art piece until after the fact: The objects live “in such a space of my prayer, my meditations, that sometimes I don’t always zoom out and really see the entirety of something.” In this conversation, artist rafa esparza speaks with Maea, a friend and collaborator, about the spiritual and deeply personal act of creating objects and the forces that lead her to make them. I do a lot of this kind of spiritual work, but sometimes I feel like I’ve been really afraid to call back, because I don’t know who’s there. Sometimes with these sculptures, particularly the plant body ones, I don’t always feel like I’m building them,” says Maria Maea, pictured in a custom suit by Julissa Aaron. “A lot of the times I feel like they’re assembling themselves over time.” These objects have an energy, and they have a relationship to each other and a story with each other.