Maja Petrić

Maja Petric is an artist working with cutting-edge technology to create innovative spatial experiences that evoke the sublimity of nature. She grew up in Croatia during the violent fragmentation of Yugoslavia. It is then that she became preoccupied with using art to elevate a sense of the surroundings. She received a Ph.D. from University of Washington and a Master from New York University on the topic of transforming the poetic experience of space through the experimental use of technology. Training at these pioneering institutions gave her an opportunity to explore various artistic methods to manipulate people’s senses through which they experience space cognitively and emotionally. Maja discovered that lighting is one of the most potent tools to shape people’s experience. Since the year 2000, she has been studying, researching, practicing, and teaching complementary potential of light and art to create the transformative human experience. On this subject, she had developed a theoretical body of knowledge that is embodied in her art practice.

Maja’s light art has been exhibited worldwide at venues including Henry Art Gallery, Medialab Prado, Microsoft Gallery, and Matadero Madrid. Her artworks have been commissioned by Amazon, Microsoft, Kikekeller Gallery,and included in private collections. Maja has been nominated for Arts Innovator Award 2017, FastCo. Innovation by Design Awards 2016, The International Light Art Award, and received numerous international awards including Microsoft Research Art Residency Award, Richard Kelly Light Art Award, Thunen Light Art Award, and Croatian National Award for Science and Technological Development.