Visual Artist for Vol. 128: Shadow Spies
Mary Maka
Serbia
Mary is a cheerful, surrealistic jungle landscape unfolds across the front and back covers of this volume, rendered in vibrant colors with a cartoonish array of animal characters nestled inconspicuously amongst the tubular foliage and flora. Although the nature in this world is familiar-–animals resembling monkeys, koalas, and bats populate the space–the overall impression is of an alien world. The work of artist Mary Maka explores spaces where the recognizable natural world collides with mythological and the surreal, rendered digitally with both a whimsical graphic sensibility and a keen eye for composition.
Mary Maka is an illustrator, animator, and animation director based in Serbia. A former student of the Academy of Architecture and Art, she studied graphics, painting, and bookmaking, with a focus on book illustration and hand-printing techniques. As a designer and art director, Mary has collaborated with global brands like Google, Adobe, HP, Unicef, and SnapChat and has created illustrations for publications like The Washington Post and New Scientist magazines, among others. In 2020, Mary expanded her practice by enrolling in additional education at the animation director department. Her recent work includes the “Endless Forest” project, a series of digital artworks exhibited in China in 2023.