New exhibition showcases accomplished Chester graduate’s artwork
Inspired by art’s old masters, nature, women and colour, a new exhibition is being held in Chester to celebrate the latest paintings by a graduate from the University.
Recent Paintings by Maria Natalie is on display at the Contemporary Art Space Chester (CASC), Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces, in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, until Friday, October 17, 2025.
The free exhibition, showcasing a variety of collections and subjects, is open to the public from 10am to 4pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Maria graduated from the University of Chester with a BA Honours degree in English Literature and Fine Art in 2022. Less than two days after exhibiting her BA Fine Art Degree Show in June 2022, she was contacted by both an agent and a gallerist and has been building her practice ever since. She also worked as a Learning Facilitator at the University after graduating.
Chester-based Maria often paints in sets and series and, in this latest work, which includes portraits of people, pet portraits and still life, wanted to demonstrate her skill in “every traditional realism”. She explained that, painting with water-mixable oil paints, her art “resembles traditional oil painting only with a slightly more ethical medium and a much faster process”.
She added: “My series are inspired by the theme or challenge I am fixated on for the coming months. When it came to my Unfinished Finished series, I was fascinated by women and colour. When it came to the Berries and Biscuit collection, I was challenging myself to try a calmer and more neutral pallet that resembles still life paintings from the old masters. Fatal Frogs was born when my partner insisted I make a series after finding an old frog sketch in watercolour.
“For me, art is about translating what you see around you so that people can understand your view, or better yet, learn and change a little about theirs with yours. I do believe art is an important reflection of ourselves and the times we live in. For now, I intend for my art to romanticise the little things and immortalise the things we love.”
The exhibition is at CASC, the University of Chester’s city centre art gallery in Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces: Chester, at Unit 16 in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, CH1 1EA.