Maia Stefana Oprea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1987. She recently completed a BFA at the National Art University of Bucharest, after studying for two years at the Savannah College of Art and Design,USA, and at the Ecole Superieure d'Art de Grenoble, France. Painting is located in the center of her artistic interests and as the product of direct contacts experienced with sculpture, printmaking and video art. Her work is characterised by the usage of very diverse materials, ranging from pencil, charcoal, pastels, tempera, gouache, acrylics, oils, to modelling clay, textiles, wood and metal. In her latest projects, unlike in the past, she is thematically restricting herself in order to gain the ability of rational control over the sensoriality of pictorial material. Her compositions are comprised of imagined hieratic figures who are trapped in a kind of spherical torn. With their formal anthropomorphic and zoomorphic approach, they are also sensorially situated in between the humane and the animalic. The investigative basis consists of “catching” the state of inner chaos, which seems to accompany the creative self when it “erupts”. However, the manner of expression is atithetical to this “eruption”, manifesting itself heavily and suffocatingly, as a sort of tactile void. She has had numerous exhibitions up to today, in Romania, Italy and Great Britain, many national and international group shows and her works belong to private and public collections.

Birth date: 21.12.1987, Bucharest, Romania

Education: 2010-2011: Erasmus scholarship at l'Ecole Superieure d'Art de Grenoble, Grenoble, France (www.esag.fr)
                    2009- present: enrolled in Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting Major at The National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania
                    2007- 2008: enrolled in Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting Major at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah,
GA, USA
2002-2006: attended High School of Fine Arts "Nicolae Tonitza" of Bucharest, Romania
Currently living and working in Bucharest, Romania
Contact Details: maiastefana@gmail.com, (+40) 726 129 649

International Personal Exhibitions
- London: - ‘ Through the Looking Glass” at the Romanian cultural institute of London, UK
- Liverpool: - CORNERSTONE GALLERY, Hope University, UK+Artist in residence at Hope University of Art and Performance
- Southampton : - TURNER SIMS Concert Hall, UK
- Venice: personal exhibition organized by the Instituto Romeno di Cultura e Ricerca Umanistica, IT

Personal Exhibitions in Bucharest, Romania
2010: - personal exhibition at the National Bucharest Opera House, a 'Design Youself' project
- personal exhibition at Melenia Art Gallery (www.meleniagallery.com)
2009: –‘Running in Circles’ personal exhibition at LEADS center, opened by master Viorel Marginean
- HARD ROCK CAFÉ Restaurant – artist painting live for 2 weeks
- ‘Habeas Corpus’ personal exhibition at the LEADS CENTER for Business & Networking & Culture
2008: - ‘ORIZONT’ GALLERY
2007: - BAKU ART GALLERY (Gallery Foundation)
2006: - Romanian National Theatre, on the occasion of the 4th edition of the "Book Festival"
-- Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE)
2005: - Romanian National Theatre, on the occasion of the 3rd edition of the "Book Festival"
2004 : - Metropolitan Center for Youth- inauguration of the center
1998 : - “Tandarica” Theatre

International Art Residencies / Workshops

2010: - participation in "The Old School" Art Residence in Gorna Lipnitsa village, Bulgaria
-participation in the workshop and exhibition R.I.V.E.R, Lodz, Polonia; proiect cofinanced by the European Union Programme “Culture 2007”,
co-organisers: Academy of Humanities and Economics in Lodz (Poland) – Centre for Professional Training in Culture (Romania)

International Group Exhibitions

2011: - participation at the 4th edition of « Young Art Show », Trebatice, Slovakia
- "Rythmes" ehibition at the Gallery of ESAG university, Grenoble, France
- exhibition of the Art Residence "The Old School" at the Hungarian Cultural Institute of Sofia, Bulgaria
2010: - “The Urban Mountains” collective project, at the Town Hall of Grenoble, Rhone Alpes, France
2008: - “Rumanien in Goslar”, Goslarer Museum, Goslar (Germany)
2006: - “A Window onto Romania” exhibition, at the London International Gallery of Children’s Art – Romanian
organizer of the exhibition, London
2004: - exhibition of the “Fine Arts Tonitza High School's” pupils-special attendance, Bratislava
2003: - exhibition of the “Fine Arts Tonitza High School's” pupils in Vienna, Vienna

Group Exhibitions in Romania

2011: - International Mail Art exhibition « Imaginary and illusion », Alba Iulia
- "How was it possible?"- exhibition following the painting camp with the theme of "The destiny of romanian
jews during the Second World War", at the Romanian Peasant's Museum
2010: - “Talented Artists Samples” at Melenia Art Gallery , Bucharest
- “Romanian Painters at Balcik” at the Central Military Museum, Bucharest
- exhibition of the International Art Camp « Dan Platon », Vth edition, at the Art Museum in Ploiesti
- 'RIVER-independent expressions' , Respresenting the Identities and the Voices of European Riverains, at The
Ark (centre for contemporary art)
- National Hall of Fine Arts ‘Contemporary Attitudes’ – 3rd edition
- “Poet’s Dream”, Romanian Youth Center, Bucharest, Bucharest
2009: - “Balkanic Art Inspirations”, Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest
- “Balkanic Art Inspirations”, Melenia Art Gallery, Bucharest
- “October, Remember, December”, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest
- exhibition and auction “Pay it Forward”, at Vernescu House, Bucharest
2007 - “ Sports” exhibition, at the Comedy Theatre of Bucharest, organized by the “Arte e Arta” Foundation
- "Body, Mind & Spirit" exhibition, at the Romanian Commercial Bank
2006: - International Caragiale Exhibition, Ploiesti
- “Duality” exhibition, at the Metropolitan Center for Youth (Photography), Bucharest
- “Woman” exhibition organized by the “Arte e Arta” Romanian Foundation, Bucharest
2003 - exhibition“ Cervantes and Shakespeare”, Bucharest
- exhibition “Closer to Jesus”, Bucharest

Art Camps in Romania

2011 : - participation in the International Art Camp « Inter-Art Aiud », XVIth edition. Aiud, Alba county
2010 - participation in the International Art Camp « Dan Platon », Vth edition, Breaza
2008: - participation in the „Mircea Popitiu Art Camp”, Sacaramb Hunedoara
2006 - participation to the traditional event “Europe Days in Rusciori”, organized by European House of Arts in
association with “Kinderbauernhof” Foundation, Sibiu, Romania

Honors and awards
2010: - Honorary member of the artistic literary movement “Image-Poesie” founded at Turin (Italy) in 2007
2007: - Best Artist Statement and Honorable Mention in the “Women Equity” Contest – American Association of University Women – Georgia, US
-Third Place in the Foundation Studies Portofolio Awards Competition– SCAD, Savannah, US
2006: - International Student Scholarship at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia, US
- Excellency prize in the INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL CARAGIALE
- Award for Single Creations At The XXIV-th EXHIBITION of International Contest in Macedonia
- Honorable Mention in the National Contest of Visual Arts, Architecture and History of Arts, Timisoara
- Honorable Mention in the National Festival of Arts for High School students, Photography section, The Society for Culture, People and Friendship
2004: -Honorable Mention in the National Contest of Visual Arts, Architecture and History of Arts, Arad
2003: - First prize - "Against Drug Addiction Campaign" - contest organized by the Cultural Home of Romanian Internal Affairs
2002: - First prize at the contest "Spring of New Allies" NATO campaign in Romania
- First prize at the contest "illustration of the book <<Color of Magic>> by Terry Pratchett”
2001: - First prize in the National Drawing Contest "Constantin Brancuşi"
1997: - First prize at the “The village of children in the Village Museum” exhibition

Other : - participation in the "Studio Vaduz - Image, Sound, Space, Edition" , a platform of experimentation and research between the Art and Design School of Grenoble and Valence and the Conservatory of Grenoble
forme d'experimentation et de recherche de l'ecole superieure d'art et de design Grenoble-Valence
- illustration of the book cover for the volume “The Death of the Deer” by Nicolae Labiş, Minerva Publishing
House, “Everyone’s Library Collection”, National Journal, 2009
- illustration of the book cover for the volume “Family Chronic” by Petru Dumitriu, Litera Publishing House,
“Everyone’s Library Collection”, National Journal, 2009
- illustration of the book “Corners of Life” by Andreea Simion, published by Eminescu Publishing House,
Bucharest 2009
-illustration of the book cover for the volume “ About the church of the Romanians from Translivania.Foreign documents (1744 – 1754)”, editors Laura Stanciu, Keith Hitchins, Daniel Dumitran, Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2009
- scenographer for the theatre play “Silent as the Grave” showed at the Romanian cultural Institute of Budapest, Hungary
- illustration of the book “ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Nadya Stamatova , Burgas, February 2008 Publishing House Baltika, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Mural Logo Painting for ‘Casa Doina’ Bucharest Restaurant