Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Marie.
Hi Maya, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
For as long as I can remember, I have been an artist. My favorite class in elementary school was art class and I could spend hours and hours drawing whatever new idea came to my mind. My mother could never stop me from singing my favorite songs at the top of my lungs after realizing that singing was one of my other passions. Growing up, I spent some of my favorite times in the thrift store with my mother and siblings which was perfect cause I saw it as an opportunity to become whoever I wanted to be simply by picking out an outfit. I knew I was meant to be in fashion after my mom told me I wouldn’t let her dress me after the age of three or four. To me, the way that I present myself to the world through clothing, hairstyles, nail color, etc. is the most natural way I know how to present my art.
Before any of my other gifts: photography, sewing, designing, singing, drawing/painting; fashion has always been my first love. Before I knew how to speak up for myself and tell the world who I really am my personal style spoke for me. I love trying new things/aesthetics and have almost had every hair color you can think of. The freedom that fashion brings me is like nothing else and I am grateful for it every day. As I grew older, I learned what part of fashion I was pulled towards the most and it wasn’t until college that I got experience being a stylist and creative director. These experiences further solidified my love for fashion and my belief in knowing I was lucky enough to find my purpose at such a young age. I am confident in my path so much so that I recently graduated from The University of Georgia with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising.
Today, as a proud queer black woman, I realize that I always used fashion to express the parts of my identity that I didn’t have the words to describe. Never being too masculine or too feminine but always somewhere in the middle I found comfort in not fitting within the binary by simply dressing however I wanted to dress. I found comfort in knowing that through a painting, a new pair of pants, or photoshoot concept, I could create whatever reality I wanted and there is power in that. Art has always given me a space to simply feel free and in control of my own narrative while doing the things that I love. I hope to in the future branch out more into the fashion community to share my gifts with the world as well as nurture the other gifts that I have been blessed with.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
For a while, I didn’t have the confidence in my art that I do now. I always heard from others that I was so unique and so talented but it wasn’t until I stopped comparing myself to others that I arrived at a state of true happiness. Comparison truly is the thief of joy and I used to feel discouraged every time I felt like I wasn’t being understood or appreciated by everyone around me. But with age, I realize more and more than what I do doesn’t have to be understood by anyone but me. I make art for my own pleasure and from the love in my own heart and at the end of the day that will always be enough for me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
People know me for my fashion, specifically for being a stylist and/or creative director. But I don’t want to just be known as the girl who puts together nice outfits, I want to be known as an Artist/Creative. Not boxed in by a specific title but free to express myself using whatever medium calls to me on any given day. I’m most proud of working on myself to the point that I move with confidence when executing any creative project. Even with the occasional thoughts in the back of my head of feeling different or left out, I always follow my own path knowing that those who truly appreciate my gifts will be there for me. Art will always be that one thing that feels like home.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
The thing I like best about my city is that people in Atlanta don’t wait for an opportunity, they create their own. If there is a business that needs to be started or an idea that needs to materialize, someone in Atlanta is going to get the work done. But on the other hand, I think many people are too focused on image and looking as if they have the best of everything. Having the right image often becomes more important than being a good person or having substance outside of the things that money can buy.
Contact Info:
- Email: mmaya.mmarie@gmail.com
- Website: mmayammarie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmaya.mmarie/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mmaya_mmarie
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIxOx0FQE188vKL7qLKRAzA
