Born in 1965. Makes drawings, print art, paintings and interactive plywood objects based on human, plant and animal personalities from her sketchbook. Exploring the relationship between the inside and the outside through line, colour and surface, she moves from grotesque graphic games to intense colourful characters, forming important metaphorical narratives behind and between them.

Ulas graduated from Tallinn University of the Arts in 1991 with a degree in print art. She is the winner of the Kristjan Raud Prize 1992, Honorary Mention Award at the 12th Asian Art Biennale 2006 and lately has participated in group exhibitions Prints Expanding Into Space in ARS Project Room in Tallinn in 2020, International Drawing Triennial in ARS Project Room in Tallinn in2021, Drawn Nordic at the Evald Okas Museum in Haapsalu in 2021, the international exhibition of women artists, Power of Women at Hearts Art Gallery in Tallinn in 2021 and Skating on Thin Ice with Peeter Sauter at the gallery of Türi Art Centre in 2022. The ARS Project Room in Tallinn hosted her solo exhibition Line flows from the soul in March 2022.

Maria-Kristiina has had 24 solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, USA, Australia and elsewhere.

She has performed drawing actions during exhibitions and in collaboration with musicians.

Maria-Kristiina Ulas has taught drawing in Estonian Art Academy, given workshops and presented drawing materials, curated exhibitions.

WHAT IS POWER OF A WOMAN?

I answer the question while sitting on the couch in a bathrobe after a cold shower. The same body, still flickering with cold water, has raised two people who are now adults. Swollen and contracted again. This body has felt explosive experiences of childbirth, passion and excitement – the fresh power of youth. This power is not lost anywhere – is it human power or feminine power? It is a feminine endurance, the readiness to change from one state to another, both literally and figuratively, to give birth to a new life and to be born again at any moment. When I sit in an ice bath or delve into the contours of the new silhouette, this force appears from the feminine depth, the innermost bottom. Pleasure flows in the body, the body perceives its nudity, fragility, temporality, change. The physical courage to create a new life and to perceive the power of one’s femininity also gives the creativity vitality and contact with the deeper nature of the moment.