About

Maxine Simko is a mixed-media artist based in Vermont. She has an academic background in Linguistics and Communication Disorders. 

Regarding two-dimensional work, she works with acrylics and pen on paper.  She has been painting and drawing since childhood, parents playing with their own artistic side alongside her. Her first ever displayed painting was done in first grade, and is hung up each year by the teacher to whom it was given. Her style has changed greatly since then. Her works now include both realism and abstract style, paintings encompassing both areas, whereas her drawings stay solely in the abstract. 

Simko's primary (and favorite) medium is ceramic. She began working with stoneware clay while doing a work-study program in the ceramics department at Tulane University. Even her first piece was of a woman's body.  Creation is a compulsion for her.  She turns simple and unnoticed mundane objects into artworks worthy of reverence. She currently creates "feminine functional ware," spanning from lowly incense trays and shot glasses, to the humble mug, to more highly valued vases and pitchers. These works are inspired by her life in my body. As women, we are taught to find only flaws, to hide, to feel shame. Instead of changing her body to fit the ideal, she solidifies herself as the ideal with each piece that she makes in her likeness.

Find her more humble vessels on etsy and instagram @madeinmyownimage.