Maya Sokora is an Austin based self-taught painter who has spent her whole life using art as a way to create a place where she can feel a sense of belonging.
She has utilized writing, film, music, performance, and visual arts as methods of storytelling and world-building.
After attending Arts Magnet High School in Dallas where she studied theater, Maya moved alone to New York City where she sang and played guitar in her punk-edged rock band for 13 years, performing at legendary venues such as CBGB and Webster Hall.
Almost 2 decades later she wrote and starred in an indie sci-fi film, RAIN, as a response to the lack of Black women represented in the genre at the time.
In 2011, her world would shatter and change forever when her only child was stillborn. The experience ignited an endless obsession with creating heart paintings as a way to visualize and communicate her profound grief and love.
Over the past 12 years, Maya’s hearts and painting style have evolved into a visceral exploration of afterlife mythologies and ancient cultural symbolism, heavily influenced by the vibrant New York City street art which colored her world for so long.
For the past year and a half she has been dedicated to being a full-time artist. When not taking care of her donkeys, goats, & kitties with her husband Adam, she is painting nonstop.
Her home studio is filled with stacks of her infamous “heart art,” which she shares and sells independently through social media and open house exhibits, inviting viewers to enter visual portals into her strange world, and connect with poignant themes of love and loss.
Follow:
@MayaSokora on IG & Maya’s HeartArt on FB
