Maria Chevska has widened the boundaries of painting both formally and semiotically. Replacing the figurative imagery of her early work with found objects, constructions, installation, and the application of words to the pictorial surface, Chevska’s work engages viewers both physically and intellectually. Language figures heavily not only in the inception of her work, but—through the practice of stitching, sewing, or pouring paint and kaolin to fashion words on canvas — in the substantiation as well. Rife with historical references, and allusions to early twentieth century modernist artists and writers, Chevska confronts viewers with their own temporal contextuality and relativity.

Maria Chevska was born in Oxford in 1949 and graduated from the Byam Shaw School of Fine Art, London. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Europe and the United States, and she currently serves as Head of painting at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, UK. Chevska lives and works in London.