When Maia Chávez Larkin started her fine art career, there was some trepidation about her works on paper and their longevity within an art collection. Her method of mixing oil paint and ink together was largely untested. Would the colors fade? Would the paint crack or crumble over time? How would the canvas respond? Larkin was determined to get answers.
“When I was starting out, I put the medium I was using through a process of testing. I made a 24-by-36-inch painting and hung it in my sunroom where it got lots of light,” she says. “After three years, nothing had changed with the chemistry, so I knew I was onto something.”
Into the Living Hills, oil and ink on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Larkin, a former illustrator with 20 years of experience, enjoys the unique medium, but admits it is not an intuitive combination. The process was born, in part, out of her desire to work on a surface that did not require display behind glass. So, combining her unique methods and her fascinating design sensibilities, Larkin has become one of the most inventive new artists to hit the scene in recent years.
The Denver-based painter will celebrate her first-ever solo show on May 8 and 9 when she unveils new work at Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The show will feature as many as 15 new works, as well as two days of painting demonstrations. “My unusual process of painting requires layers and drying time between each, so I will be bringing three works in different stages so visitors can see the pieces as they are being made,” Larkin says.
Speed Goat, oil and ink on canvas, 36 x 24 in.
When asked if she has a name for her style of Western art, Larkin says she’s still trying to find the words for it. “It’s deliberately illustrative. I was an illustrator who stepped into Western art, so the work is meant to look like hand illustration in an ink and watercolor style,” she says. “I’m still looking for a name.”
Desert Bloom, oil and ink on canvas, 20 x 16 in.
Partly inspired by Charles M. Russell’s works on paper, Larkin was also inspired by her parents, a point that the gallery underlines. “The daughter of painter, sculptor and musician Edward Chávez and artist and jeweler Eva van Rijn, Larkin grew up immersed in disciplines that valued craft, history and integrity. Her early years moved fluidly between a ranch in southern Colorado, a medieval château in France, Taos and Mexico, shaping a visual language rooted in place and observation. Trained in hand drafting and architectural rendering, and later working in fashion illustration for designers in New York and Paris, she brings precision, restraint and a strong sense of design to her paintings. Traditional drafting tools remain part of her process, grounding each work in intention,” says Cyndi Hall, gallery director. “Only in recent years did Larkin fully embrace Western art, and the response has been immediate. Her work has been widely recognized by institutions, publications and collectors, establishing her as a compelling voice of the next generation.” —
Manitou Galleries 123 W. Palace Avenue » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 986-0440 » www.manitougalleries.com
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