Maria is a proud Koori woman and a ‘freshwater’ girl of the Wiradjuri people. She is a storyteller and a self-taught artist. Painting quietens her mind, creates a sense of belonging and supports her in connecting with her Culture, Country and family.

Learning about her culture has been like putting pieces of a puzzle together. Unfortunately, the puzzle will never be complete due to the impacts of colonisation and past Australian government policies. These gross disruptions have impacted the accuracy of traditional knowledge and stories that she is responsible for passing on. These intrusions have resulted in incomplete and abstract versions of her culture, which are reflected in her art and influence her painting style.

Maria started painting to relax from the stress of full-time university studies in 2009. After a lot of expressed interest in her artwork and strong encouragement from an Aboriginal Elder, who advised that she has a responsibility to share her cultural stories and preserve their cultural traditions, she began painting for several art exhibitions and competitions. Her first entry won the main award, and the artwork sold. Since then, she has won several awards and exhibited nationally in different galleries and exhibitions, including Parliament House.

She has created many commissioned artworks for corporate organisations and private collectors, both national and international. She has also painted artworks to raise funds to support Indigenous scholarships, remote Indigenous eye care, disability support services, and school programs.

Her painting style is a contemporary fusion of abstract and Aboriginal art, representing both her Aboriginal culture and the abstract aspects of her culture due to colonisation. At times, she uses groups of symbols as a way of narrating a story and preserving cultural traditions, which is one of the ways her people passed on information thousands of years ago.

She sometimes uses white markings and lines over her artwork in place of traditional dots. She does this for several reasons: aesthetics, to emphasise or highlight, to cover up and not show the entire story, and sometimes to narrate a story regarding the impacts of colonisation. She uses white to emphasise the impact of colonisation on her people and their culture. Additionally, white ochre is a traditional resource of Wiradyuri Country and was/is used for painting and medicinal purposes. White ochre was also traditionally given as a gift to ‘rite of passage’ visitors entering Wiradyuri Lands. So, at times, white will represent a gift from her.