2025 MFA THESIS EXHIBITION
eva sainte rose

JANUARY 16 - FEBRUARY 14, 2025

My recent work uses CT scans and other anatomical imagery along with found photos of figures from magazines and other religious visuals. I abstract these elements by painting on them and obscuring them through layers of collage. My hope is that the multiple layers of the work mirror the layers of reality and the complexities of the different facets of a person’s life.

I am intrigued by the eternal search for the meaning of life and the different ways in which people have sought out a connection with something greater than themselves i.e. God or the Divine. I am particularly interested in the union of the physical bodies that we inhabit and divinity. My work draws inspiration from ideas of spiritual anatomy or undiscovered parts of our beings that connect us to the unseen world. I do this by focusing on different anatomical images and referencing shapes of organs real or imagined/ abstracted.

My goal is to have my art-making be a spiritual practice in which I can grow in higher states of consciousness and learn more about myself in the process. I engage with my process through an intuitive method of play. Marks, compositions, colors, materials, and other choices are guided by reactions to previous moves and the feelings that the choices create in me. By turning off my analytical brain, I can get into a flow state of making moves driven by my consciousness and not by my prefrontal cortex.

Part of my process is the decision to surrender and relinquish control. For example, my method of selecting imagery through magazines is based on the idea of chance and allowing for randomness to flow into my work. I want to invite something other than myself to guide the work instead of controlling all of the reference images that I use. In this sense, I am actively asking the divine to be a part of the creation and to help guide the moves that I make. The ultimate goal would be for me to be able to take a backseat to the art-making process and allow for the imagery to flow through me effortlessly. One way I have started to witness this concept is by observing the work take on a life of its own. For example, as I paint the figures in my pieces, they start to show complex expressions that I never could have planned. 

Eva Sainte Rose is a multidisciplinary artist in Los Angeles, CA. Her focuses include painting, collage, video, and motion graphics. She received an MFA in visual art from Maharishi International University in 2025. Her work has been featured in the following digital art collectives and online magazines: Mundane Magazine, Feltzine, Post Vision, Tax Collection, Friday Magazine, Jawbreaker Zine, Lithium Magazine, and Ok Whatever.