Maya Erdelyi

Artist Statement

I’m a collagist; cutting, sourcing, and colliding ideas into hand-crafted animations, 3-D paper works and experiments. Themes interweave, ranging from: abstraction, color theory, automatic drawing, intergenerational trauma, the Jewish diaspora, motherhood, family stories, memories, and dreams. My cross-disciplinary practice has involved: experimental animation, stop-motion, puppets, geodesic domes, printmaking, curatorial projects, full moon artist salons, drawing clubs, and various collaborations. Using bold colors, patterns and found paper, the final artworks exist as animated films, collages and installations. My work aims to create conversation, evoke memories and wonder, experiment with space/time/form, and ultimately bring people together.

Maya Erdelyi Film still from "Anyuka" hybrid collage from animated documentary 2023 Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center

Bio

Maya Erdelyi is an award-winning animator and artist. Her works interweaves experimental animation, installation, drawing, printmaking and collaborative experiments. Screenings and shows include: national and international film festivals, galleries, museums and DIY venues including Lincoln Center, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, MoMA NYC, MFA Boston, REDCAT LA, Harvard Film Archives, Animation Block Party, among others. More recently: a solo show at Trustman Gallery at Simmons University (fall 2022), artist workshops at the ICA Boston (summer 2022), and a 2019 Yaddo Residency among others. Maya is a Colombian/Hungarian first-generation American. Born and raised bilingually in New York City, she is currently based in Boston where she teaches animation at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and lectures at numerous Universities and workshops. Maya received her MFA in Experimental Animation from Calarts and first studied animation at Harvard University. She lives with her husband, an animator, and their daughter Paloma, and is always working on some kind of experiment.

www.mayaerdelyi.com