Classically Trained, Globally Inspired

Maria Karki is an American multi-disciplinary artist, designer, poet and novelist whose five decades of creative work blends art, fashion, and spirituality. Inspired by global travel and inner explorations, her art travels between visible and invisible worlds.

During the Bali years, Maria restored a derelict villa into a wellness retreat, participated in Ubud Writer's Festival Poetry Slam, showed and sold her art, and invented projects such as Art in the Box and The Art of Mobility. She also taught mandala art-as-meditation at luxury wellness resorts and wrote her first novel, Lover of Stars—a witty, saucy, and heartfelt exploration of love and expat life. The Bali years ended in 2022 when she moved back to her native Florida.

In 1970s Los Angeles, she gained recognition for her visionary “Art Couture,” merging fine art and fashion through hand-painted silks showcased in top boutiques and fashion shows. Her "Art Couture" was worn by cultural icons including Carol Burnett, Jane Fonda, Michelle Phillips, Natalie Wood, and Cher. Her art and clothing frequently appeared in galleries and national media such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Wear Daily, and the Los Angeles Times.

Educated in Florence, Italy, and Washington, D.C., Maria holds awards in life drawing from the Corcoran School of Art and in costume design from a Los Angeles entertainment publication. Her work has been showcased in a solo exhibition at Art Basel Miami, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Palm Beach 3, and luxury venues in Bali.

Her first multi-media mandalas were shown at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, for a solo show, in 2008, well before  today's popular trends in meditative art and wellness.

Now, in 2026 in Florida, she continues to push the boundaries of her meditative mandalas, exploring surprises in intuitive oil painting,  and innovative digital media.