IVORY MOTET




MAYA IVORY
Maryland Institute College of Art

My work operates as an exploration of godhood, girlhood, the natural world, divinity and rebirth–specifically centering around the fundamental altering of your nature–with overarching emphasis on the ephemera, the fantastical as well as the whimsical. Across the span of this semester this body of work has operated as a sort of bridge between my prose, poetry and illustrative pieces–entwining them through narratives steeped within high fantasy that expound on the characters depicted. It draws the fantastical into reality by plucking abstract concepts present within high fantasy–such as the manipulation of the natural world through magic–and giving it form and place through constructing architecture that is reflective of the imaginative world depicted through illustration and prose. My work strives to carve a space for itself within the real world, to evoke environments that thoroughly steeps the audience into the ephemera–it attempts to impose and offer a space that functions an immersion into an alternate world, a portal that takes you to a place far removed to our concept of reality. It does this thorough stretching across a variety of mediums, ranging from hand crafted books overflowing with prose and flora, to framed paintings among the other props that suffuse the space with a worshipful, otherworldly air. 

My work emphasises world-building, and incorporates a variety of identities and cultures. As such, diversity is an imperative characteristic within the characters depicted; I pull from a well of history and various mythological areas to suffuse it within my own, to spring forth new narratives that capture these lofty topics. I doggedly work to achieve this through emulating fantasy stylistic choices, and through the usage of mediums such as: watercolor, gouache, ink, collage, digital means, woodworking and book-making.


My body of work plays with themes of subservience, wanderlust, bildungsroman, life overturned, inheritance, finding purpose, loss, fleeting humanity and bridging heaven and earth, all of which are embodied within the characters I illustrate and breathe life into through constructing elaborate worlds and narratives around them.




CONTACT

Instagram
CV




Education
 MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART (MICA) 3.620 GPA, Baltimore, MD
  • Pursuing Bachelor of General Fine Arts & Humanistic Studies Degree 2023 - Present
  • Successfully completed MICA Graduate Level Course, Very Bad Things with A+ grade (Fall 2024)
  • Dean’s List - Fall 2024 & Spring 2025


BISHOP MCNAMARA HIGH SCHOOL 3.844 GPA, Forestville, MD
  • High School Diploma May 26, 2023, Fine Arts Diploma Endorsement (FADE) Program Certificate, Magna Cum Laude
  • Successfully completed AP English Language & Composition and AP English Literature & Composition courses. Earned highest score of 5 on AP English Literature & Composition Exam
  • Successfully completed Honors Latin and English courses Freshman and Sophomore year 



Employment  Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Baltimore, MD

April 21-26,  2025 Supervisor: Iliana Quander, 347-853-3216 (Text before calling)

Assistant Manager for Melodrama Multimedia Event (MME)
  • Organized and assisted in prop placements
  • Directed stagehands and models throughout rehearsals and opening nights


Concerning Learning Performance Consulting Camp Springs, MD

July 2024 - August 2024 Supervisor: Deadra Welcome, 301-651-2658

Office Assistant
  • Assembled office equipment
  • Created and cataloged two hundred sixty-two books and ninety-four binder inventories 



Exhibitions
  • Mark Arts Abstract Nation Exhibition Selection (Wichita, Kansas) 7/22/2022 Amalgamation art piece selected by juror Dominic Chambers (New Haven, CT) in Glady’s and Karl T. Wiedemann Gallery from 7/22/2022-9/24/2022




Skills
  • Artist, Creative Writer 
  • Keyboarding 
  • Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Google Docs, Google Slides, and Photopea/Adobe Editor



Activites
  • Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) NOSEDIVE Multimedia Stage Technician Volunteer - Three day stage tech volunteer for April 26-27, 2024 event. Duties included arranging and removing stage props for event acts.Fine Arts Diploma Endorsement
  • (FADE) Program Visual Arts Participant 2020-PresentUnique high school program that serves to refine students talents and skills in the artsBishop 
  • Youth@Work/Summer Youth Enrichment Program (SYEP) Participant 7/5/2022-7/21/2022Successfully completed program that focused on all aspects of business and entrepreneurship
  • Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD) Online Courses 2D Animation for Teens 1/16/2021 - 2/20/2021Drawing for Animation 7/22/2020 - 7/3/2020



Awards
  • Accepted into MICA’s 2026 Global Pathways Summer Study Abroad & Exchange Program: Venice, Then and Now
  • Recipient of MICA 2025 General Fine Arts Recognition Award for Humanities Redesigning the Museum Essay submission for Very Bad Things, graduate level class in critical museum studies
  • Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Dean’s List Fall 2024, 4.0 GPA; Spring 2025, 3.8 GPA
  • Bishop McNamara High School Magna Cum Laude Graduate 5/26/2023
  • Saint Andre Award in Advanced Digital Art 5/25/2023
  • Fine Arts Diploma Endorsement (FADE) Program Certificate of Completion 5/25/2023
  • Bishop McNamara Athletic Letter and Pin; 2021-2022 & 2022-2022 school years
  • National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) Academic Archer Status 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years
  • Mark Arts Abstract Nation Exhibition Selection (Wichita, Kansas) 7/22/2022
    • Amalgamation art piece selected by juror Dominic Chambers (New Haven, CT) in Glady’s and Karl T. Wiedemann Gallery from 7/22/2022-9/24/2022 
  • Inducted into National Honor Society 1/27/2022
  • Academic Honor Roll- Magna Cum Laude 2019-2020; Summa Cum Laude  2020-2021; Cum Laude 2021-2022; Summa Cum Laude 2022-2023 school years
  • Luv Michael Certificate of Recognition for being an Autism Advocate - 4/2/2021



Certifications
  • American RedCross Training Services - CPR/AED Certified, 5/2025
                 








Last Updated 24.10.31
PORTFOLIO





1. Venerated, He
 Venerated, He (2024)
Charcoal, Fabric & Gold foil

Multimedia life drawing.



2. The Lion Who Thought Himself Wiser Than His Mother
 The Lion Who Thought Himself Wiser Than His Mother (2026)
Gouache, Watercolor & Colored Pencils

Illustration of the Khoikhoi (South African) folktale.



3. Fossil Book
Fossil Book (2025)
 Watercolor, Gouache & Coffee

Accordioin book.



4. Cow Skull & Spine
Cow Skull & Spine (2025)
India Ink





5. The Heron & The Lotus
The Heron & The Lotus (2025)
India Ink





6. Lax
Lax (2025) 
India Ink






7. Barn Owl
 Barn Owl (2025)
Walnut Ink





8. Character Iterations
 Character Ideations (2025)
Digital Art (Clip Studio Paint) 




NEXT PAGE


© CARGO TEST 2027