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María Berrío is a stand-out in the vast universe of Latin American artists and painters. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Berrío has left her country's name up top, showing an impressive sensibility to the arts from a young age, where she grew up surrounded by nature, a topic that greatly influences her work.
Berrío moved to New York when she was 18 years old, studying art at Parsons. She graduated in 2004, and three years later, acquired a Masters Degree at the New York School of Visual Arts. In her first years as an artist, Berrío tried painting, an art form that she called "frustrating," opting to work through collages.
While obtaining her Master's Degree, she began to work on her first collages and hasn't stopped since. Her technique consists of using Japanese paper and watercolors and playing around with textures. When it comes to some of the topics she works with, Berrío is inspired by everyday women, a subject that she imbues with the South American folklore that she grew up with in Colombia.
"I began to do collages because painting was too frustrating. I was never very good at it and was never satisfied while doing it," she said in an interview with the website Curator.
Despite leaving her country many years ago, Berrío's childhood remains an important part of her art. In a conversation with Curator, Berrío revealed that due to Colombia's political and societal context, she and her family lived in confined spaces. On the weekends though, they spent their time in nature, going to a family farm where she felt free and allowed her imagination to run wild. "The scenes of nature in my collages are inspired by those experiences," she said.
Berrío's work is located at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Nasher Museum of Art in Duke University, the Perez Art Museum in Miami, and more. Her work has crossed borders and has been exhibited in cities like Seoul, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, London, and, of course, Bogota.
Her work has also sold successfully, alongside giants like Fernando Botero. In 2021, her work "The Celebration" was sold for $320,000 dollars.
"I make art because I can't imagine doing anything else. Creating is a joy and a pleasure but it's also an obligation. I feel anxious if I haven't painted in a long time."
Berrío's work is present in the real world as well, with her having a collage in the Fort Hamilton Pkway of the Sea Beach line in Brooklyn. The work is called "There Is Magic Underneath It All" and is in plain view of commuters.