Born in Pasadena, Maria Schechter is a bio-artist inspired by Hildegard of Bingen and the natural world. Using foraged botanical palettes informed by the High Middle Ages she also utilizes mycelium, and clay as her primary medium. Schechter shapes her works using living and natural materials. Maria grows her paintings and her sculptures using a mycelium composite as her main medium. Her recent work showcased with the Minnetrista Museum and Gardens in Muncie, IN.

 

The Gatekeepers, her mycelium-grown sculpture, resides in the collection at Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft  in Gatlinburg, TN. This five foot arch was grown over a 3 year period, using 260 pounds of mycelium, and includes 2,000 seashells. Maria's work encourages continued stewardship of the natural world and represents the impermanence of creation, similar to a Buddhist sand painting. If kept inside, this mycelial-created work lasts forever, but exposed to the elements, it goes back into the earth.

 

Schechter received her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and completed her Master in International Business from Schiller International University in Germany. She has received grants from the Goethe Institute New York City, the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, and UCLA.

 

Maria Schechter teaches workshops on botanical painting and mycelium as a medium. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana with her husband and five animals.