Flow No 30 - Color, 2023

Acrylic, coffee, ink, and embroidery on canvas

Unframed dimensions: 10" x 10" x 1.5"

Framed dimensions: 11" x 11" x 2"

Monika Mayer is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Berkeley. She grew up in a rural area of Germany where she was exposed to a rich tradition of textile craft and making from a young age. Drawing inspiration from nature and personal experiences, Monika's multidisciplinary practice is based on experimenting with everyday materials, texture, pattern, color, and repetitive mark-making. Working across a broad range of media, including canvas, paint, inner tubes and soccer balls, Monika creates abstract two- and three-dimensional work. She often incorporates traditional textile techniques such as knitting or embroidery in unusual ways to give her artwork additional color and bring it to life. Her approach is experimental, her creative process intuitive and iterative, often layering techniques to create organic textures and dimensions. Monika recently joined Mercury Twenty, an artist-run gallery in Oakland.

'Flow No 30' is the latest piece in a larger series where Monika is experimenting with coffee, acrylic paint, ink, and stitch on canvas. The piece emphasizes fluidity and flow while maintaining a balance between looseness and control.