Maria Kley (b.1981, Tokyo, JP) regenerative practice derives from a deep interest in intimate narratives, materials and the passage of time. Her works include sculptures, installations, videos, drawings, performances, prints and workshops.

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Conceptual portraits form an important pillar in her work. Biographical stories of herself, acquaintances or people she meets by chance form the guideline. Maria Kley brings time, person and place together while addressing universal themes such as growth, mortality, conflict and love. She deliberately opens up her process to participation and external involvement to collectively explore social connection, intimacy and resilience. The resulting abstract works are both personal and universal, both conceptual and tactile.

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Each work is a physical manifestation of existential questioning, a process that goes hand in hand with elaborate material research. Be it a stone, clay, used tampons, used paper cups or her late grandmother's scarfs, Maria Kley is challenged by the historical and transformative qualities of materials and objects. With great attention, she takes care of them. Through an intensive process of collecting, observing, dissecting, washing, coloring, assembling, transforming and reducing, material and story become one.

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Maria Kley lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. She studied fashion design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem (NL). Her art practice was preceded by several years of working in the fashion industry. From 2018-2019 Kley was a resident at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

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