September 2008
Artist Reaches into the Invisible
by Phaedra Greenwood
A true original and free spirit, Maria Romano works in a mixed medium of glass and precious metals to create unique three-dimensional abstractions punctuated by the suggestion of human figures and archetypal symbols. Romano calls her current work “ultramundane,” which means beyond the furthest reaches of the universe, she explains.
Romano, a petite, fine-boned woman with dark eyes, fuses her passion and physical beauty in glass with layers of precious metals such as platinum, copper and silver. She starts with two pieces of clear plate glass the same size, then cuts out shapes in metal and lays them down one layer at a time. She creates anywhere from 20 to 100 layers before she lays the second piece of glass on top and places it in the kiln.
“It burns in the crucible for up to five days,” she says. “The fire purifies everything. When I take the pieces out, I’m astounded, amazed. There are these intricate areas, like etchings. I’m all excited. Where did this come from?” She reaches up in the air. “I love to reach into the universal mind and…” She grasps something, then opens her palm and blows. “Poof! I bring forth my vision—things that haven’t even been described. Something completely new manifests in the universe. There’s something amazing in being able to do that.”
Romano’s mother, Esther Vargas, was from Taos. “My grandpa, Eloy Trujillo, was the mayor of Taos in 1942,” she says. Her grandma was a Sephardic Jew who had seven children. Her paternal grandparents were from Sicily. “My grandparents came to Mexico to start a new life. Grandpa owned an export-import shipping line, a couple of ships that did business with the island nations,” she says.
Romano was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1952, and partly raised in Cuernavaca in a 20-acre compound. Her grandpa’s import-export lines also did business with Cuba, and they were living in Havana just before Castro came into power. In 1958, her Mother fled to the United States back to Taos with five children—on her grandpa’s steamship line.
Romano married, had her first child at 21, and was divorced by 27. “I raised five children by myself,” she continues. By age 40 she was really burned out, she says. “I ran a property management company with 500 upscale homes and apartments. I hardly ever saw my children until they were grown. We had our simple pleasures and my children grew up to be the most amazing people in the world. But my heart was so lonely. I didn’t want to work for other people anymore. I walked away from it. An invisible thread drew me to Taos. I knew I wanted to work with glass.” She has never had an art lesson in her life or taken a class in glasswork. “I bought a book about glass fusion, read half of it and bought a kiln. The rest was a journey of self-discovery.”
Romano’s metaphysical glass fusion will be included in “The Living Masters Invitational” section of the Taos Fall Arts Festival, September 26 through October 13. Her work may also be seen by appointment at her home studio. For more information call Romano at 575-758-7740.
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