Maya Simms is a British artist based in East London.
Maya is influenced by the multifaceted nature of her personal relationship to culture, and the wider experience, looking at her connection with Jamaica and England, and its dark interweaving history.
She aims to reveal some less talked about, brutal realties of the colonisation of Jamaica and West Africa, investigating this in painting, whilst, subverting the traditional materials used in western art. Maya uses sugar as a catalyst within a painting as a surface itself, breaking down its production and history through different experimental modes of rendering an image. Whether it is through oil paint, wooden / sugar sculptures, or videography.
During her first year at The Slade, Maya won a commission to design a donor wall for BAFTA’s redeveloped building at 195 Piccadilly. Honouring the generous donations of donors, as well as reflecting the building and the people within it, she interweaves her own lively vibrant re-imagination of art deco and traditional stained-glass.
Maya was awarded a scholarship to study a Foundation Fine Art diploma at the Royal Drawing School, achieving a distinction.
She graduated at The Slade School of Fine Art in 2023, awarded a First Class Bachelor in Fine Arts Hons. In her final year, Maya was selected by the Slade committee to be nominated for the Freeland's Prize. She was also awarded, by the Slade committee, the Prankerd Jones prize.
In 2023 Maya contributed two piece's of work to Art on Postcard Winter Auction to raise money for Hepatitis C Trust.