Original paintings. Artist prints. Other questionable decisions.
Art that makes you smile, then makes you think
Every painting begins with a sculpture.
Mari Jae is a classically trained oil painter working in contemporary figurative allegory. Her paintings begin with expressive figures sculpted from wax strings, which she stages, lights, and translates into oil paintings. The paintings are cute and they make social commentary. Relationships, identity, and the occasional absurdity of being a person are some of the themes they explore.
The figures may be small. The ideas aren't always.
Shown internationally. Collected across the U.S., Canada, France, and Switzerland.
Prefer to see things with your actual eyeballs?
See my work in person at The Art Oasis Natick →
Build
Light
Paint
How these weird little people got here
“I found wax strings while playing with my kids. They were deeply engaged in stacking shapes and completely uninterested in what I was doing. So I experimented. Then I painted” - Mari Jae
Visit in Person
Art Oasis Natick
a studio you can walk into.
Visit Mari Jae at her working studio inside The Art Oasis Natick. See new paintings, watch work in progress, join a figure drawing session or simply spend time surrounded by artists.
“Using thought bubbles, speech bubbles, and humor, my paintings are about people, politics, power, and whatever else refuses to leave me alone. They often look playful at first. Look again” - Mari Jae
Artist Prints
The same wax-string figures, now available in a range of sizes and prices.
Come hang out
Occasional studio news, new artwork, questionable decisions, and things I think are worth seeing.
