Maya Fizer

March 19, 1991, my Mama named me "Maya," after Maya Angelou. I was raised on food cooked with yellow onion, parsley and green pepper and music that told stories of Black love, empowerment and unity. In a city where the people welcome you with open arms and big pots of Camellia red beans; I was nestled and wrapped in big melanated arms of deep red, black and gold pigments. My home was washed away but my memories stay vivid; studying “The Fauves,” Picasso’s Guernica, and constructing a totem pole with my classmates at McDonough #15 in the French Quarter. I paint and draw because my soul was made to do so. It is innate in me to express myself by gliding GOLDEN paint across canvases and pencils and charcoal across sketchbook paper. Through my art I celebrate my people, my ancestors and their stories. I want to evoke every human emotion through my work, inspire and motivate and uplift people of all shades, cultures and creeds. I wish to teach and be taught, heal and be healed by all I touch and all who touch me.