by Jama Rattigan
Hungry? Dive right in! Today’s Soup of the Day was cooked up by London-based surreal collage artist Maya Land. 
We all crave something different from time to time; images that blend fantasy with reality can satisfy our sometimes quirky appetites. Until I recently stumbled upon Maya’s work, I didn’t realize surreal collage art was “a thing.” I’ve since noticed other artists who create similar pieces.
Surreal Collage Artist Maya Land.
But back to Maya. A native Londoner, she’s been interested in art since the age of 5. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Greenwich, then studied oil painting at The Art Academy. After graduating, she soon realized collage art was her true love and hasn’t looked back since.
Maya creates all her work by hand using vintage images she’s collected over the years. With this element of nostalgia, she explores political and social issues we face in contemporary society.
She’s inspired by life experiences — hers and that of others — in addition to books and music. She enjoys exploring the magic in simple everyday life — mainly people and our wonderful planet.
Her pieces tend to follow certain themes: the Universe, Home and what ‘home’ means to different people, an Underwater series inspired by the mystery of life in the oceans, and Inside/Outside — a series inspired by her love of indoors but need for outdoors, and trying to find a balance between the two.
My favorite is her Food series (no surprise), which is featured in this post. She sourced her images from old cookbooks and magazines. Nothing ho-hum about any of it. Definitely grabs your attention and makes you think.
Maya’s work has been exhibited in galleries around London, including The Royal Academy of Arts and Saatchi Gallery. Her work was shortlisted for three consecutive years for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
For more, visit Maya Land’s Official Website, Instagram, and Etsy Shop. She sells originals, prints in different sizes, stationery (postcards, greeting cards, calendars) and mugs. Worth a look: Maya’s originals featured at Saatchi Art (you’ll get to see work in other series besides food).
I don’t know about you, but from now on whenever I eat soup, I’m going to make sure there isn’t anyone floating around in my bowl. 
