Instagram: @maggiepekurarart
Email: maggiepekurar99@gmail.com
Maggie Pekurar is a portrait artist currently completing her 4th year at the University of Waterloo, studying Honours Art and Business, and majoring in Fine Arts. She primarily works with oil paint, photography, and digital painting. Previously, her work was chosen to be featured in the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery Expressions 42 exhibition in 2017. Maggie’s paintings explore how a person’s physical perception cannot always be a true reflection of their underlying thoughts, emotions, personality, and psyche.
Artist Statement
Portraits are said to be a representation of a person or object in a specific moment, but I believe there is much more to portraiture than just a capture of physical characteristics. Portraiture is a rendering of a person’s soul, experiences, memories, and emotions through a medium chosen by an artist. Humans can be judgemental beings and are quick to form opinions based upon first impressions, bias, ignorance, and experiences, many times without doing proper research on the subject. In my body of work, the viewer is invited to look beyond face value and investigate a subject’s true self. Through the use of a physical barrier, in this case, a covering over the face, a distortion of physical features are created, hiding emotion and facial detail. My goal is to give the viewer a chance to look at someone in a different light.
My work is highly intuitive and is inspired by my own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I translate my emotions into paintings in hopes that others can relate and feel the emotions expressed. My use of fluorescent pigment was inspired by my previous work Take Me Seriously, where I first experimented with fluorescent paint and the interesting lighting effects it created. This birthed the idea for my current body of work. By giving the viewer the inability to see facial features, it allows them to look at the subject in a different light, creating a connection that may not have been present before.
Mitchell 1, 2, 3. 2021-22, oil on canvas, 64” x 42”, 58” x 36”, 48” x 30”
Mitchell 1, 2021-22, oil on canvas, 64” x 42”
Mitchell 3, 2022, oil on canvas, 48” x 30”
Mitchell 2, 2022, oil on canvas, 58” x 36”
Interview Questions
What aspects of your life inspire your art?
My art is inspired by all aspects of my life such as relationships, friendships, nature, and social media, but the most prominent inspirations are my emotions and experiences.
What are your preferred mediums and why are you drawn to them?
My preferred mediums are oil on canvas or water-soluble oils on canvas. I find that oil paints have a certain richness to them that you cannot get with acrylics. Oil paints are more forgiving in nature and allow soft and smooth blends with longer drying times. Since I like to take my time painting, it is definitely helpful when your paints don’t dry up right away.
Where do you see yourself in the future? How do you see your art practice evolving?
Art is my passion—not many people are able to find their passion early in their careers. I see myself keeping up with my art and doing some commission work in the near future, as well as creating art for my pleasure alone. I hope to one day have an exhibition of my paintings in a gallery for people to enjoy.
What do you want people to know about you as an artist?
I, as an artist, am strongly influenced by my emotions. I translate my emotions onto canvas in hopes that the person observing my work will connect with it and practice critical thinking to make their own judgements. I take my time in planning and creating my artwork and enjoy the process of creation almost as much as the outcome.
What is the most significant thing you will take away from your Fine Arts studies?
Do what you love to do, and don’t change yourself and your interests to conform to other people’s tastes. In reality, you can’t please everyone, not everyone is going to like what you make or understand it. Be open to suggestions and question your ideas and thought processes, but ultimately have confidence in your artwork and ideas, and don’t change something if you don’t want to. The most important thing is that you love what you create, and it makes you happy creating it.