Maya Almeida Araujo is an award winning Director and Artist who explores the human condition through our connection with water.
With a focus on the underwater realm, the work floats between the spheres of still and moving images, artistic installation, and site specific pieces.
Navigating the confluence of nature, art and technology, her work has developed through critical engagement with her own mind and body in a way that examines fundamental questions of how human beings relate to themselves and to their environment.
Adopting a unique approach to each work, Maya draws on personal experience, culture and ancient philosophy to create visceral immersive experiences . An invitation to step into an imaginary world in a manner that is at once sensorial and profoundly intimate, taking the viewer into a realm where the boundaries between Man and Nature disappear, it asks how we can come together and ultimately, heal.
London is home but Maya was born in Lisbon to Portuguese / Belgian / German parents. She holds BSc (Hons) in Biology from Imperial College London, so the artistic path was one of auto-didacticism; studying at Central Saint Martins, training with equipment manufacturers and working some of the greatest image makers of our time, such as Chris Nash, Tim Flach and Lois Greenfield.
The work consistently pushes technological boundaries in search for a truer realisation of the experience. Recent projects have involved developing custom rigs for film-making in the open ocean, multi-screen editing at ground breaking levels of resolution, colour depth, motion, interactive animation environments and producing hyper-textured ambisonic soundscapes. All in partnership with a collective of like-minded artistic collaborators and craftspeople without losing sight of her truth.
Maya's Fine Art work exists in public and private collections and has been recognised by juried international exhibitions and competitions. Collaborations with a range of commercial & private clients include CHI & Partners, Y&R Branding, Orion Publishing, OneDrop Foundation, the Lisbon Oceanarium, Crowood Press, Egoista Magazine, Scientific American, Dance UK, AD Dance Company, D&B Performing Arts, The English National Ballet, the Akram Khan Dance Company, Body of People, The Nureyev Medical Foundation and Visto Images.
