Meet Maria Battista | Sculptor, Gold Smith, Wonderer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Battista and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Maria, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
Both my teaching career and my artistic business have taught me several important things. First, that authentic relationships of integrity and emotional connection are the foundation for success in every endeavor. Emotional connection includes a deep connection to oneself. One has to offer something true and genuine to others, and one has to know what that inner truth is through leading a contemplative life beyond one’s outer activities. At the same time, I’ve learned that in a certain sense, one must never fix finalized conclusions about what or who one is. We are evolving creatures, full of a mystery that wants to speak through us. Whatever that mystery may be, I believe that we can’t hear it without allowing surrender, loss, self-abandonment to sometimes be a part of the flow in addition to the usual rational way that we go about our lives. This looks different for each of us, but it is a central component of human creativity. I’ve learned as an artist to tolerate the tension of not knowing, of holding nebulous ideas lightly so that they can develop into something better than I as an individual am capable of creating. And I’m still working on that state of being all the time because mostly, I’d love t stay in control! I’ve also learned that people love beauty and depth and that they love to be listened to and known.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What I say about my sculptural work is that I birth figures and portraits engaged in wonderment about the nature of reality. But in a way, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that the viewer and I engage in that journey together. I’ve had people be so emotionally moved looking at my work that they weep and stay for a long time before the figures. That says more than a slick artist statement! I’m grateful for the masterful classical training that I’ve been given by my teachers and I think that kind of education is a hard thing to come by in the United States. The Russian and Italian traditions in which I’ve been cradled are about a kind of whole-person formation in addition to the mastery of technique. We all know that we never arrive at some final level of ability, rather, what is important is the mode of living that promotes constant development and generativity. It hasn’t been easy, because it has required patience, travel, money, and all those thousands of hours that one works. I don’t really believe in the concept of talent. I think that one persists because it is what one has to do. It is the source of one’s vitality and that in itself is rewarding.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Colorado Springs is the most geographically majestic place I’ve ever seen (with the possible exception of Iguazu Falls in Argentina). So, the natural environment is my go-to for visitors: hiking the section 16 trail or Garden of the Gods, or any of the wonderful trails on Mt. Teva. I’d take them to the Denver Botanic Gardens, or down to La Veta to enjoy the dark skies and the quiet of that lovely little town. I like local, family-owned restaurants like the Ethiopian restaurant Uschenna on the westside of Colorado Springs or The Pi Bar on Centennial. I’d also rather patronize small businesses like Hunter-Wolff Gallery or Commonwheel Artists in Manitou, or Auric Gallery downtown.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
So many people and organizations! I’ll work backward, chronologically. Thanks to Sharon Wolff, owner of Hunter-Wolff Gallery for putting me in touch with The Shoutout series and for years of a profitable and nurturing business relationship and friendship.
My primary sculpting teacher, Valentin Okorokov made all the difference in my approach to figurative sculpting. I owe my skill, methods, and philosophy of aesthetics to him.
My foundry Bronze Services of Loveland and all of the talented people there who bring my work to completion are indispensable to me and have become like family.
My fellow artists in Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, La Veta, Denver, and Marble, CO, and in Italy and beyond who have either taught me, commiserated with me or just enjoyed developing as creatives together over the past 3 decades.
And foremost, my recently deceased mother Phyllis Virzi, who sacrificed her own art career to nurture mine.
Website: www.mariabattista.com
Facebook: Maria Battista First Circle Studios
Other: mariabattistastudios@comcast.net
Image Credits
My photographers are Judith Kimbrell, Mother Nature Photography (Colorado Springs) and Jafe Parsons of Loveland, Colorado. The Photo of The Eternal Fiesta is my own.