Meet the Artist

Maria

El-Chaar

aka. M.E, Drawing & Animation

““Golden Wounds” is a 2D animated short film based on my experience of the challenges faced during and after recovery from mental illness. The one legged porcelain doll is slowly being cracked and broken during therapy as well as after leaving the hospital. This distortion of reality is represented in a minimalist and playful way in contrast with the realistic gold retracing her scars. The design of the character references two main ideas, body dysmorphia and balancing a “normal” life after being released to the world which is represented in the lava scene. The gold mending is inspired by Kintsugi, a Japanese technique they use for mending broken ceramic pieces back together. My take on it is to embrace the non-visible and visible scars of your past because that is what helped you grow into the person you are today. The cracks on her thigh are shaped like my physical scars from self-harm that I learned to expose and embrace with the help of my relationship with Christ. In the last scene, the gold mending stems from that small cross which references my Christian faith. The purpose of this piece is to bring awareness to the struggles of recovery as well as to open discussions about mental health and treatment. It is harder for one to heal from mental illness than to choose to live with it.”

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Maria El-chaar is a Canadian born Artist, currently working in Toronto with a BFA in Drawing and Painting: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation program. Using painting, drawing and animation, she creates surrealistic and dreamy works that have narration and emotion tied to it. She also has an interest in education. Presently a bilingual educator at the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery and a regular contributor to various projects through both her Francophone and Christian community.
OCAD U - Faculty of Art
Drawing and Painting: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation
Major In progress, 2022

Drawing painting Digital Painting Animation Photoshop Premier Pro After Effects Adobe Illustrator Dragon Frame Fresco

2021, Looking Out while Looking In
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/6878311/looking-out-while-looking-in
2019, RAW Artists
Toronto
2017, First Year Drawing Across Disciplines Exhibit
OCAD University