ArtPrize · Grand Rapids, Michigan
Maria Wyche is a mixed-media artist whose collage and acrylic works find worship, trust, and joy in the wild things — even in the fire.
Featured Works
No. 01
Mixed media · Collage & acrylic
A crane is dancing with her wings outstretched, head tilted up to heaven even as flames crackle around her. She is not burned, nor is she afraid of the trials and chaos round about her.
Rather, the crane is worshiping and trusting, keeping her gaze on The One who can order her steps into a beautiful dance and bring about new freedom — even in the fire.
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No. 02
Mixed media · Collage & acrylic
A swan is not consumed by the darkness, but rather is radiating the light of the moon. She is buoyed up and carried forward by the river of love. She need not strive or earn this reality.
The swan just abides in the love that is there all around her, and this leads her where she needs to go. It is beautiful and captivating for all to see, because of the light she is reflecting.
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No. 03
Photography · Grand Canyon
The golden hour at the Grand Canyon — that sacred moment where there is so much beauty, it made me want to weep. I believe that sense of wonder and longing points to a greater reality of our belovedness and belonging.
View details & purchase →“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”Ephesians 3:17–19
From the Gallery
Also on View
See the complete collection in person at ArtPrize, or explore the full entry online. Each piece is available for purchase — tap any title for details.
Maria Wyche works in collage, acrylic, and photography, drawing her subjects from the wild grace of birds and the landscapes that make us want to weep — golden hours, canyon walls, moonlit water.
Each piece begins with attention: to a chickadee's morning song, to a crane's improbable dance, to the way light lands on water at dusk. What emerges is a body of work about trust, belovedness, and the freedom found in abiding — not striving.
Her work is currently featured at ArtPrize, the citywide art competition held each fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Artist Statement
I make art about the wild things that keep their gaze on the light. In collage, gelli print, acrylic, and photography, my birds dance, sing, and abide — a crane worshiping with wings outstretched even as flames crackle around her; a swan carried forward on a river of love she never had to strive for or earn.
I caught the golden hour at the Grand Canyon once, that sacred moment when there is so much beauty it made me want to weep. I believe that sense of wonder and longing points to a greater reality of our belovedness and belonging — a love so wide and long and high and deep that it surpasses knowledge.
Every piece is an invitation to trust that love: to stop striving, to abide, to rejoice in a new day like a spirited little chickadee — and to discover new freedom, even in the fire.
— Maria Wyche
ArtPrize · Grand Rapids
ArtPrize transforms downtown Grand Rapids into an open gallery every fall. Find Maria's entry online to see the full collection, find her venue, and cast your vote.
Maria Wyche at ArtPrize ↗