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femmesfollesnebraska · 7 years ago

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Maia Kumari Gilman, artist, architect, Reiki master

Maia Kumari Gilman shares with LFF about her multi-pronged creative process and work, her upcoming solo exhibit at Lundt-Glover Gallery in Chatham, New Jersey, her recent visionary eco-fiction book and much more...

Where are you from? How did you get into creative work and what is your impetus for creating?

I’m from Vancouver, Canada. I live in Chatham, New Jersey in the States, via New York City for several years, then Jersey City and South Orange, New Jersey. I once lived in Kailua, Hawaii, and so my only experience of living in the United States was on its peripheral islands on each coast: Oahu and Manhattan/Brooklyn. New Jersey brings me back to the continent. I consider myself to be a citizen of North America.

I came in as a creator—as we all do, I think—and for me, writing stories began before I could write, painting began before I knew how, and building began in the sandbox. It’s taken me decades to learn how to “do” each of these things with any degree of skill—and yet the inspiration has been present from the beginning. I think this is true for everyone. In my case, I’ve made a decision to focus on creativity and my flow-process, whereas not everyone makes that choice in life. It’s my flow and it’s fun—and so I keep doing it.

“Cambrian” acrylic and oil pastel on canvas by Maia Kumari Gilman

“Curvature” acrylic and oil pastel on canvas by Maia Kumari Gilman

Tell me about your current project and why it’s important to you. What do you hope people get out of your work?

I have a multi-pronged approach: Reiki > paint > write > design > build. The threads of my creative work come together to form one thing: a happy Maia. When I “run Reiki” as I say, I get into a clear headspace. When I paint, I feel free, and doorways open. When I write, I clarify my thoughts and expand my vision in a practical sense. When I design, I begin to make that ephemeral world more tangible. And when what is designed is built, I see it come into form. And that is very satisfying.

I trained as a Reiki Master while I was completing my Architectural Registration Exam to become a Registered Architect. Reiki came naturally to me, as I felt the energy flow long before I studied it formally. I had so many questions about what I was feeling, and that led me to study energy work. You know what happened? I got my questions answered, and I ended up with more questions. It’s an evolving process! I taught Level 1 Usui Reiki for a while and saw private clients, and developed a system that combined my architectural work with Reiki for a very clarified and grounded design approach. I am taking new steps with this every day, and am offering this service to Realtors and to clients. It’s not space clearing (which I studied) and it is not Feng Shui (which I also studied). I’m coming up with a new name for it. It focuses on bringing out the best in a space. When I have the new name I will let you know! For now we can just call it “Maia’s Special Sauce.”

Reiki training manual by Maia Kumari Gilman

I have a solo abstract art exhibition coming up this fall (the opening is September 15th) and I will be presenting about 40 paintings, mixed media and primarily acrylic on canvas, all created over a period of one year during which I jumped fully into my own version of abstract work. This comes after many years of loose architectural sketching and rigorous detailed construction drawing—a sweet relief to me to flow into this direction. The show will be at the Lundt-Glover Gallery in Chatham, New Jersey. I am experimenting with selling online with Fine Art America and also directly on Instagram. And I have paintings for sale in a lovely local shop called the Purple Aardvark, in Chatham. My big dream is to have a climate-related show in Oslo, Norway, that combines my abstract work and my refined architectural drawing work into a new form. Why Oslo? I’m drawn to it. I have the theme and the images in mind already. It’s taking shape. It will happen in some form. And will it be in Oslo? Let’s see! It might just have Oslo incorporated into the work, and be held in a different location.

“Moving On” in a digital gallery context

“Moving On” acrylic and oil pastel on canvas by Maia Kumari Gilman

I’ve recently published my first novel, visionary eco-fiction, entitled The Erenwine Agenda. I call it a love story about fracking. It is out in digital form and I’m producing a print edition to be timed for the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy which is this fall, and which is a major focus of the story. It weaves wonder for the world, with care for our environment and concern for its well-being, with a strategy for moving forward in our times from a perspective that involves meditation, sex, communication and art. And roses. There are a lot of roses! Fracking is an excuse to bring in a lot of roses. No, just kidding. There is never a need to create an excuse for roses. I published Reiki: a manual and it is a handbook for teaching and studying Reiki, and it is based on my teaching manual used in my own teaching of Reiki. I’m working on a new novel (Otter Coast) and a new non-fiction Reiki package (Reiki for Homes—not sure it will be titled as such, but will be something along those lines.). I have a poetry collection coming out and that’s on a slow backburner for the moment—it’s a passion project of curating thirty years of travel poetry, and I’m savoring every minute of its evolution. It’s called Duct Tape for Kali.

Eco-fiction by Maia Kumari Gilman: a love story about fracking, The Erenwine Agenda

Page 1 of a love story about fracking, The Erenwine Agenda by Maia Kumari Gilman

I run my own small business, Maia Gilman Architect PLLC, and in my architectural work I focus on bringing clarity and openness, wellness and thriving, to the spaces I design for residential, commercial and institutional clients. Recently, I have begun consulting to larger firms, including a multinational engineering firm, and that has felt good too, in that it is a return to the big scale work I did before I began my own firm almost a decade ago. I have a feeling there will continue to be a hybrid of self-employment and contractual work for others, for the next decade. It’s a nice flow of control over my hours and client relations, with the big scale mixing-it-up with more kids in a larger playground, so to speak. Very rewarding in every sense. I love to write and to paint about architecture and this is an evolving part of my process. Climate issues arise in all aspects of my creativity, and that is the focus of the next round of Reiki > painting > writing > designing > building.

Addition for a home-based business, by Maia Gilman Architect PLLC

Schematic drawing for reconfiguration of commercial wellness spaces by Maia Gilman Architect PLLC

Does collaboration play a role in your work—whether with your community, artists or others? How so and how does this impact your work?

Always, even if the work is created singularly. It is very satisfying to create the work, and it is even more satisfying and fulfilling to share the work. Is it shared with a family member? Is it shared with a patron, or a client? Is it the worldwide web weighing in with its variable field of opinion? Create it, put it out there, let people have their opinions, and don’t worry about it—just keep creating. Feedback is important but it can stymie the flow—so stay true to your own self and process. Heard that one before? “To thine own self be true!” There is more to that statement, spoken by the character Polonius in Hamlet and written by William Shakespeare: “This above all—to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any [wo-]man.” Emphasis mine. Stay true, be true.

Considering the political climate, how do you think the temperature is for the arts right now, what/how do you hope it may change or make a difference?

It’s always important to stay focused on the vision, and now is no different. If anything, we have an intensified opportunity to refocus the vision, and to point in the direction we want to go. I don’t think we can change others so much as we can work on ourselves; and so, this is the time to focus on our own inner change, and with more and more people focusing on their inner alignment, the group will shift as well. By staying open to inner inspiration, we can find the group solutions that will benefit the larger whole. In other words, it’s from that inner alignment that the group solutions arise. I believe this quite fully. Doesn’t mean it is easy. It is the goal of the process.

Artist Wanda Ewing, who curated and titled the original LFF exhibit, examined the perspective of femininity and race in her work, and spoke positively of feminism, saying “yes, it is still relevant” to have exhibits and forums for women in art; does feminism play a role in your work?

I generally shy away from labels, but since you asked: “-isms” imply a buying into a system, and I while I identify as a feminist, and am a beneficiary of feminism, I am reluctant to say that my work redefines a new aspect to that “-ism.” Feminist art, to me, is creative production that represents or works for or critiques equality—and since my work (written, painted, designed) explores male/female balance throughout, it is clear to say that it is feminist work by that definition. That said, I wouldn’t put that as its primary “-ism” label. I am working with the terms “visionary eco-fiction” for my writing and with ��environmental abstraction” for my painting and with “neo-organicism” for my design work—and they are all labels, yes, so I suppose I do accept labels in some sense. If you string it all together you get: “feminist visionary environmental neo-organic abstraction in eco-fiction, painting and architecture” which is quite a mouthful. “Organic” is probably the best summary of all.

Ewing’s advice to aspiring artists was “you’ve got to develop the skill of when to listen and when not to;” and “Leave. Gain perspective.” What is your favorite advice you have received or given?

Go for a walk, then come back and write down your first thoughts. Focus on the thoughts that celebrate and ignore the ones that denigrate. Lift yourself up through your own thought process, and others will follow. Do that every day, no matter the weather. Go for a walk! This is what I tell everyone these days. I am often asked how I do all of my creative work. My answer: I don’t do it all at the same time. And if I get swamped, I go for a walk.

“Bear Camp” photo by Maia Kumari Gilman, cover shot for blog post on medium.com

Maia Kumari Gilman

www.maiakumarigilman.com

Author of The Erenwine Agenda (Spring 2017 by ASEI Arts, a division of Light Vibe LLC); Architect, artist & Reiki Master featured by USA Today & Sundance Channel.

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins. LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015), BARED: contemporary art and writing on bras and breasts (2017, edited by Laura Madeline Wiseman) and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. See the latest call for work on the Submissions page!

#maia kumari gilman #women in architecture #women in art #reiki #les femmes folles #contemporary art #feminist art

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maiakumarigilman · 8 years ago

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Book Talk 17: things are getting real! Heads down, back to work. . . . . . #alignment #allowing #appreciation #architecture #art #aseiarts #birds #books #buddhism #chi #energy #energyflow #energywork #flowers #frequency #grace #healing #lawofattraction #lightvibe #mikaousui #mindfulness #nourishment #reiki #soundhealing #space #vortex #waters #wellness #whatishealing #whattoreadnext https://www.amazon.com/Erenwine-Agenda-Maia-Kumari-Gilman-ebook/dp/B06Y223RCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491380136&sr=8-1&keywords=maia+kumari+gilman

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femmesfollesnebraska · 7 years ago

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Les Femmes Folles: Women in Art 2018 calendars 60% OFF today! Art by Jessica Langley, Elizabeth Ross, KJ Hannah Greenberg, Rosemary Meza DesPlas, Maia Kumari Gilman, Ali Leja, Nadia Shinkunas and Bonnie Gloris. Any proceeds go to UNO Foundation's Wanda Ewing scholarship fund! Use code ZBLACKFRIDAY at checkout.

#women in art #women artists #contemporary art #feminist art #les femmes folles #art calendar #jessica langley #elizabeth ross #kj hannah greenberg #rosemary meza desplas #maia kumari gilman #ali leja #nadia shinkunas #bonnie gloris

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maiakumarigilman · 6 years ago

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Each piece of art created with love by Maia Kumari Gilman #Friday #Art #Alive Scooch A Mi | 19 N Passaic Ave | Chatham NJ (at Scooch A Mi) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnbEFq1hIO4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1grjz849rdusz

#friday #art #alive

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maiakumarigilman · 6 years ago

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Free Reiki beach read this weekend! This one’s on me. Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Reiki-manual-Maia-Kumari-Gilman-ebook/dp/B06Y48JD32

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