Maura Allen

Maura's work combines photography, serigraphy and painting. She starts each piece by breaking a cardinal rule: I look directly into the sun. With details obscured, silhouette brings the tilt of the head, a gesture, a strong iconic shape into sharp focus.

Wood, steel, ceramic and glass are her surface. Her process builds on 40+ years as a black and white photographer and two decades as a painter and printmaker, allowing her to push the traditional boundaries of each.

Maura grew up in Northern California surrounded by rolling ochre hills dotted with majestic oaks in a time when Silicon Valley produced more agriculture than tech. Today, Denver and the Rockies are her home and ranches, rodeos, vintage Main Street and Lewis and Clark’s expedition provide a rich, creative stage. But it’s not an homage to the past or a specific locale that inspires me; it’s the spirit of possibility and individuality, the allure of the American West.