Marija Draskic Brancazio

Mixed Media on Canvas, 42x36”, 2024

Waves of light is a vision of the Ocean dancing with the Sun. It represents our spiritual journey through the waters of life, guided by the currents, waves, and the light in front of us. It is made in respect for the ocean as the cradle of life.

Like most of the artist pieces this painting contains hidden images in fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark medium.

Mixed media painting, 48”x48” (2023)

This piece focuses on Persian culture, depicting the craft of carpet weaving, sophisticated architectural design of muqarnas ( ornamental geometric elements on ceilings and domes of mosques), and poetry written in Farsi.

While weaving the carpet in a meditative fashion, the woman in the painting is using her hair instead of the thread, thus creating the complex pattern as a part of herself. All these repetitions, ornament motifs and threads symbolize a beautiful journey of a lifetime, built one knot at a time.

Furniture piece, paint on wood, 2023

This is a refurbished piece of furniture, containing whimsical elements of doodling combined with structured geometry of tessellated forms.

Acrylic on Wood, 24x18”, 2023

Valued for both its fruit and its ornamental value, Leikora Sea Buckthorn bears abundant crops of large, juicy, flavorful, bright orange berries. During a shamanic journey, the artist saw the spirit of this plant as a young girl, full of life. It is said that the plants’ medicinal properties are due to magical beings who come to feast on the juicy berries. One of the mythological beings associated with this plant is Pegasus, the bearer of strength, endurance, and power of heroic self-conquest.

Mixed media, June 2023

Pomegranate is a symbolic representation of femininity, fertility, love and raw creativity. This piece depicts a figure reminiscent of Aphrodite (Venus, Cytherea, Freya, the goddess of love) emerging from the depths of the Ocean in an open shell, holding a fruit of pomegranate. She is carrying the seeds that carry life, and the seeds remain a part of her. She is accompanied by the moon, as well as the invisible spirits of passion, desire, erotic love, love of the world and universal love.

One Sphere is a round room designed as a geodesic sphere, representing one planet, one circle of life, one Earth, one whole, unified community and unity of love. This project was done in collaboration and with support of SIENA CONSTRUCTION.

One Sphere offers visitors an opportunity to dive into the depth of the sustainability issues through visual art – a 360º painting within the sphere, a symbolic and spiritual representation of Earth. The interior of the sphere is a virtual dark room, and visitors are given UV lamps and 3D glasses, that allow for the art to glow in the dark and expand into the space of the sphere.

The Visual Art: The painting represents the Earth in its most magical, symbolic and spiritual form. Within the themes of the life itself, we will find elements, motifs describing the forces of our reality:

Earth - grounding, solid presence, stability, roots, bugs and bees, slithering snake, jungle, enchanted forest, gnomes)

Water - emotional realm, flow, change, wave, mermaids, songs, deep, ocean)

Fire (transformative, intense, crackling and warm, dragons, cracked egg, rooster)

Air - (subtle, high, elevated, far reaching, fast, wind, birds, hawk, lightning, clouds)

Ether - stars, planets, sky, emptiness, sun, glow, formless behind the form, far, essence, everywhere)

STRUCTURE:

One of the first geodesic structures ever created on the territory of United States was created right here in Massachusetts, under the tutelage of Buckminster Fuller (located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts). Fuller began forming spheres from hexagons and pentagons (like the panels on a soccer ball) and dividing them into triangles for strength and ease of construction.

This project will use recycled wood in the process of art installation, reinforcing the reuse of materials in creation of new spaces, public art, and design.

Acrylic Painting on Wood, 24”x18”, 2022

This piece was a commission by the Town of Watertown, MA, as a part of Edible Watertown - Plants of our Past program. The artist was chosen along with ten other colleagues to depict one of ten plants that are local to Watertown and that could be used for consumption.

Here, the artist depicts the spirit of the Elderberry plant - a wise and powerful woman who is making medicine, her concoction promising to bring health and strength to the one who drinks it. She knows the secret recipe, putting mysterious ingredients into the pot and helping us on our path towards vitality.

Mixed Media on Canvas, 36”x28” (2022)

“Meeting in the Forest” is a surrealist vision where two different worlds meet on the same plane. All the fish depicted in the painting are realistic representations of oceanic species, set in a realistically depicted forest of New England. The human character is carrying a delicate necklace (guia, spiritual guiding necklace, or a rosary) in her left hand, and a lantern in her right searching her way between the worlds.

Mixed media, 48x48” (2022)

In “Handful” we see a woman, dressed in traditionally Indian garments, working on many chores and creative activities at the same time. She is a human multitasker, like many of us, but at the same time there is a serenity in the multitude of her hands, holding things together like the deities of old.

Mixed media, 36X24”(2021)

“Threads” show us a woman pulling on strings of various colors and creating bands of various traditional designs (found typically around Scandinavia and Mongolia). Like her predecessors, this woman is creating her own clothing and dressing herself in her own creation. This painting also explores harmony, where assorted strings with different colors are pulled and put together in a harmonious pattern and rhythm.

Mixed media, 36X24” (2021)

In “Making her Way”, we see an allegory of a woman seeking her path and creating her own story. Feminine energy dominates my visions, perhaps in response to the ages of patriarchy which dominates our waking world. I often paint women crafting complex designs with their hands: weaving, knitting, or embroidering the world. These paintings venerate life, the act of creation itself, portraying the importance of craft in our development and participation in life. Just like I paint my dreams, my dream-women weave their tapestry of patterns and poems. The forest hides mysteries and holds wisdom, known in many fairy tales and folklore.

Mixed Media, 24x18” (2021)

A depiction of a dream about life and death, “Dusk and Dawn” gives us two characters: A rooster representing the dawn of the day, or the early part of life; and an old woman, representing the sunset of life - looking at the face of death.

Acrylic painting, 24x18”,(2021).

“The Sea of Chickens” represents the artist’s dream of a family member departing. In the dream, the artist’s grandmother needed to get to “the other side” and the artist took her across the sea of chickens. And so they go across the sea, as the light changes from warm sunset into the dark night.

Part of the Little Mermaids series - Mixed Media painting 8.5”x11” (2021)

The series is a collection of female characters, functioning as individual paintings but also as a collection – showing youth, middle age and old age. They are different versions of the ocean deity (Yemonja) respected in many cultures of the world.

Part of the Little Mermaids series - Mixed media 8.5X11” (2021)

The series is a collection of female characters, functioning as individual paintings but also as a collection – showing youth, middle age and old age. They are different versions of the ocean deity (Yemonja) respected in many cultures of the world.

Part of the Little Mermaids series - 8x11 “ painting, mixed media (2021).

The series is a collection of female characters, functioning as individual paintings but also as a collection – showing youth, middle age and old age. They are different versions of the ocean deity (Yemonja) respected in many cultures of the world.

Mixed media, 48x48” (2021).

The painting “It Takes Time” gives us three characters of various age, or one character in three different stages of life. The confusion is intentional, as the time and passage of time is the subject of the work. Whether it is the same person, growing and creating her circular basket of life, or if it’s a family of women, teaching each other how to grow into their womanhood and approach maturity and old age, the notion of time – past, present and future – is at stake. Our ancestors and our successors live within us right now, and we are all grains in the sand of time, our ally and teacher. Time heals everything, and it takes time to grow into who we are. It took over six months for this painting to be manifested in reality.

Acrylic painting, 20X16” (2021).

In “I Will See You Blossom” shows us a very personal vision of the artist and her family member – her grandmother – in a gentle embrace, sitting peacefully on a bench. The background is mostly subtle, showing an old house in Bosnia, however the one object standing out is the flower pot of petunias that seems to extend towards the deceased relative. In the nature of magical realism, the flowers are becoming a part of the artist’s ancestor.

Mixed media painting, 48x48” (2020).

“Mother earth” shows a woman, and a well-known archetype of Mother Nature in yet another form. Her face is looking straight into our eyes and she gives us a modest smile, yet there is something stern about her sharp features and black hair with streaks of green and red. In her hair, which branches out like a tree or its roots, we see the various plants and insects, part of her and created by her, working together in an orderly way known and understandable only to her. There is a notion of domesticity in some of the floating objects, and in the hands of the woman growing the flowers, taking care of her garden. Just like we do when we mind the life of a flower - she is taking care of us, giving to us without judging our deeds or moods. She is monitoring the balance on the planet like a good mother that loves us unconditionally, and she is asking us to acknowledge her power and live consciously in the balance of nature.

Mixed Media painting, 48x48 “ (2020)

In “The Sea can See”, we find a woman working on a beaded necklace typical of Brazilian traditions. The ‘beads’ are painted using pointillist painting methods, and they aim to replicate the arduous, repetitive and creative work of women in various tribes who work with beads. This style of beadwork comes from northern Brazil, and the woman depicted is simultaneously anthropomorphic and a symbolic representation of the Ocean, known in Afro-Brazilian tradition as Iemanja (Yemonja). She is a known entity in many religious ceremonies and medicinal circles. Although the painting claims that “The Sea can See”, her gaze is covered by mystery (the veil of beads).

Mixed media painting, 48x48”(2020).

This piece aims to depict the duality of human nature. It shows a woman with a powerful gaze, gentle - yet intense, inviting - yet mysterious. It calls to our inner power: being confident of the body, womanhood, feminine energy that can scare us in today’s world - but is a necessary part of being human. It is an invitation to gather the courage to investigate our own shadow, shame and secrets, and learn who we really are.

Mixed media canvas, 48x48, (2019).

The painting shows a woman (artist’s mother) in traditionally Serbian garments, embroidering her apron with floral designs typical of the local folk wear. She is making a strong gesture; a move made by women thousands of times to create or decorate handmade clothing. In a similar manner, the artist designed over a thousand circular shapes in ink mimicking the methods of traditional designs. Being separated from her country for four years because of the working visa, this painting was a way for the artist to connect to her mother.

Mixed media painting, 48X48” (2018)

This painting has been created as a collection of familiar gazes, a tapestry consisting of more than seven hundred irises. The color code is created as a system of relationships, where two rhombic shapes of the same color never touch on their sides. In these rhombic shapes, depicted are the eyes of friends, family, enemies, good, bad, sad, happy and all kinds of human and alike, suggesting the connection between all beings in one intricate universal tapestry.

This is an 18" diameter drum, and ink is directly applied on leather.

A handmade drum with an ink drawing depicting Dancing Shiva (Hindu deity of creation and destruction). On his left side, the god is holding a little drum representing the rhythm of the created universe and heartbeat. On his right side, he holds the flame of creation, the burning force of life. He is standing on a dwarf, a force of evil depicted as reduced and defeated by the god of destruction and creation. This drum is used in ceremonial spaces when playing the music of various traditions, and it continues to be the heartbeat of many sacred gatherings.