MARIA APPLETON

Maria Appleton (b.1997) is a textile artist based in Lisbon, Portugal. Questioning the subjectivity present in urban systems, Maria Appleton’s practice materialises itself as an ongoing research of colour and form developed through multiple techniques of dyeing, weaving and printmaking. Her pieces unravel as chromatic in-prints onto a juxtaposition of layered cotton, silk and other industrial fabrics, defining a series of vibrant abstract transparencies. Appleton delves into the dialogue established through the interaction of bodies in space, two elements that endure in a constant symbiotic relationship of metamorphosis with light. Probing architectural conceptions of space, she defies human perception by translating optic perspectives and tracking bodily movements. She sees the viewer as an active participant in the conception of the fabric itself, involved in a progressive sensorial experience open to interpretation. Speculating on the nature of liminal spaces, a stage of emotional or physical alienation, her work merges multiple layers of geometric patterns which together disturb the perception of tangible presence and symbolic absence. These compositions create cartographic variations connected to conscious spaces of collective memory whilst triggering individual memories, dreams or physical sensations. Appleton chains, through these methods, a set of pulsing experiences, meant to trigger a part of a universe where the architecture of public and private meet.