Public and private-commission
sculptor Maria Battista births figures and portraits that
are engaged in wonderment
about the nature of reality. She is the owner-artisan of First
Circle Studios, her space for the emergence of bronze, stone, and
precious metal sculptures that celebrate the embodiment of spirit in
the human being. She has been juried into numerous regional and
international exhibitions since 1992, such as the prestigious
Sculpture in the Park in Loveland, Colorado and the Peak at the Arts
Global Arts Exchange Festival in Costa Rica. She has installed
public sculpture in parks, civic locations and private businesses in
her hometown of Colorado Springs. Her many newspaper and magazine
articles include having a featured article and her
bronze “Calypso” on the cover of the Colorado Journeys magazine.
Recent awards include
having a piece in the 2024 National Sculpture Society’s Annual
Awards Exhibit at Brookgreen Gardens, a win in the 2024 Portrait
Society of America’s members’ competition, and acceptance for a
bronze installation in the Northglenn, CO Art on Parade exhibit.
Maria’s Italian
heritage led her to post-graduate sculpting study in Tuscany and in
Umbria after completing
her degrees at Rutgers University (B.A.)
and Kansas University (M.A.).
Her works pursue the virtuosity of the Renaissance and 19th
Century European masters while tackling contemporary
themes
concerning humanity’s cosmological evolution, the truth of our
shared vulnerability,
and the need for a return to embodied
interrelatedness in the disembodied technological age.
I sculpt in both bronze and stone. I am also a gold smith who works in a variety of precious metals and minerals.
