Mia Araujo is an Argentine-American painter who is best known for her elaborate and detailed works of surrealist and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

imagery. Her work has been shown in internationally recognized galleries, including Roq La Rue Gallery, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Corey Helford Gallery, in California, Haven Gallery in Northport, New York, and Dorothy Circus Gallery, in

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

. Her work has been prominently featured in such high profile arts publications as Hi-Fructose Magazine, Juxtapoz, and

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) was founded in 1953 by a group of Southern California artists and designers "...to promote the professional status of illustration art as well as foster both philanthropic and educational goals". ...

.Spoor, Nathan (5 June 2011)
"Suggestivism"
. Gingko Press. Retrieved 13 October 2015. Born 1986 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Mia graduated Valedictorian from the Otis College of Art and Design, with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Illustration and a minor in Creative Writing.Interview with Mia Araujo
November 2008. Her work was first exhibited in the Roq La Rue Gallery, in 2008. Since then her work has since been featured in more than 25 galleries across the United States. Her paintings tend towards the movements of

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and

suggestivism Suggestivism is an offshoot of Lowbrow art that invites the viewer to develop their own interpretation of the work, i.e. 'suggestive'. Nathan Spoor entitled a 2011 gallery exhibition "Suggestivism" at CSU Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center in S ...

and she lists some of her creative influences as

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

, Hayao Miyazaki,

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series ''Slam Dunk (manga), Slam Dunk'' (1990–1996), and the ''jidaigeki'' manga ''Vagabond (manga), Vagabond'', which are two of List of best-selling manga, the best-selling man ...

, Glen Keane, and

Kinuko Craft Kinuko Yamabe Craft (born January 3, 1940) is a Japanese-born American painter, illustrator and fantasy artist. Biography Kinuko Yamabe Craft was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan on January 3, 1940. She graduated with a Bachelor of ...

.David, Jo (2014)
"Sacred and Profane Issue"
Miroir Magazine. Pages 82-83. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

''Into the Woods''

On May 12, 2012, Araujo released her first solo exhibition, titled "Into the Woods," at Corey Helford Gallery. This particular collection centers conceptually around the synthesis of the self and Nature. Araujo situates her figures in the outdoors but simultaneously incorporates aspects of the inner, "truest" self into these paintings. The works are replete with fragments of the main figures' dreams, emotions, fears, and fantasies - all layered into surreal natural backdrops. In this way, she fuses idyllic ethereal imagery with darker, nightmarish impressions. Araujo cites Miyazaki’s film ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...

'', the writings of

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

, and

Timothy Egan Timothy P. Egan (born November 8, 1954) is an American author, journalist and op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times'', writing from a liberal perspective. Egan has written nine books. His first, ''The Good Rain'', won the Pacific Northwest B ...

’s book ''The Big Burn'' as a few of her primary inspirations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo, Mia Living people Modern painters Argentine surrealist artists American surrealist artists Women surrealist artists Painters from Los Angeles Otis College of Art and Design alumni 1986 births 21st-century American women painters 21st-century American painters