Neighborhood barbecues have always symbolized community to me. Yet I began wondering how easily we can participate in familiar rituals without questioning what lies beneath them. The smoke becomes both literal and metaphorical—a reminder that appearances often mask more complicated realities.
This painting is part of a series called Ordinary Systems.
acrylic on wood
Patricia Maus is a New Orleans artist living and working in the city's Mid-City neighborhood. Raised in New Orleans, she has spent her life exploring the intersection of art, education, and human behavior.
After earning degrees in education and teaching for over a decade, Maus returned to the University of New Orleans to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art. Her background in education continues to inform her practice, fueling a deep curiosity about observation, perception, and the subtle ways people interact with one another and their environments.
Working primarily in acrylic, Maus creates contemporary figurative and abstract paintings that examine the quiet patterns embedded in everyday life. Her work has been exhibited regionally and is included in the University Medical Center New Orleans public art collection through Louisiana's Percent for Art Program. In addition to her studio practice, she leads drawing workshops that encourage people of all experience levels to slow down, look closely, and discover the joy of seeing.
NEW ORLEANS
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