For the last 25 years, painting has dominated the world of Marise Maas. As she pursues her need to capture beauty within the everyday, the act of painting has, for her, become a form of daily medication, helping to douse feelings of worry or concern through the act of paying attention to the ordinary things she encounters through the course of a day.

The appeal of Maas’ work lies in this admission that life, for the most part, happens within the rather uneventful ordinariness of daily routines and interactions; the bath is run, the phone is answered, the light bulb is changed. It is while surrounded by these small things that the greater highs and lows of life unfold. Maas states, ‘’I’ve always been interested in glorifying the banal. If you look closely at the smaller detail, you’ll find huge stories’’.

Maas has been fascinated with horses and horse riding since childhood and the repeated depiction of horses within her works represents a form of symbolic stand-in for the often humorous, often tender, qualities of human desire and longing.

Born in the Netherlands, Marise Maas immigrated to Australia with her family in 1982.

Her work is represented in numerous major collections nationally and internationally, including the National Gallery of Australia, Artbank, BHP Billiton, Swinburne University of Technology and National Australia Bank Collection. She lives and works in Melbourne.