Western artist Maia Chávez Larkin was born in the artists’ community of Woodstock, NY to a family of painters and sculptors. Her father, Edward Chávez, started his career creating murals in public spaces across the West through the WPA initiative. After moving East following WWII, he became an integral part of the Woodstock artists’ colony, a member of the National Academy of Design, and a professor at the New York Art Students League. His works exist in the collections of the Whitney, MoMA, The Hirshorn Collection and the Library of Congress. Her mother, Eva van Rijn, is an award winning conservation artist who was for many years the president of the Board of Directors at the Woodstock School of Art. Van Reign’s wildlife and landscape paintings are in the collections of six art museums.
Along with learning from her parents and a community of artists in both Woodstock and Taos, Maia has studied architectural illustration at the New York School of Interior Design, as well as painting and drawing with Il Chiostro in Vagliagli, Italy, and with the Woodstock School of Art in Woodstock, NY.
Her work has shown in galleries including the Kiesendahl + Calhoun Gallery in Beacon, NY, the Fletcher Gallery in Woodstock, NY and the Paradise Garage in Manhattan. She has also worked for nearly two decades as a professional illustrator in various arenas including fashion illustration, botanical illustration and architectural illustration. Her clients have included Anaïs & I (New York), Mini + Maximus (CA), Le Vestiere de Jeanne (France), Vail Resorts (CO) and Papyrus (US) as well as the blog and original cookbook of The Pioneer Woman. As a member of the Cowgirl Artists of America, her work will be included for the second year in a row at the Cowgirl Gathering Art Show at the Fort Worth Stockyards this May.
Statement
I have lived in more than a dozen states and countries, but when it came to putting down roots, Colorado was the clear choice. My love for the American West runs deep, from my father’s Mexican/Native American roots in Northern New Mexico to the Colorado cattle ranch where we spent half of each year in a pioneer-era cabin throughout my childhood. My work is inspired by the many layers of history that have created the West we know today, the blood, sweat and tears, the grit and tenacity, and the unspeakable beauty of the land that has entranced the eyes and minds of our culture for decades.