Artist Statement
I'm captivated by the quiet moments. The ones that often go unnoticed but carry so much meaning. The texture of a Peruvian textile, the silent bond between human and animal, the small gestures that speak volumes. My work brings together illustration, editorial design, and storytelling to explore emotion, identity, and cultural memory. Through intentional composition and color, I aim to create pieces that feel both intimate and inviting.
At the heart of my practice is a sense of closeness: a pet’s playful nudge that feels like a language of its own, a folk tale’s motif that carries generations of memory. I gravitate toward the stories often labeled as “too small.” The ritual of brushing a ferret’s fur, the quiet sync of a shared glance, the warmth held in handmade crafts passed across borders. Through zines, illustrated guides, and narrative print design, I blend information with feeling creating work that’s tender, tactile, and emotionally resonant.
Peru is present in everything I do. Its ochre landscapes, geometric weavings, and layered histories are reflected in my color palettes, textures, and the balance I seek between spontaneity and structure. I don’t treat tradition as something frozen in time, but as a conversation in motion. I ask: What does it mean to carry culture forward? How can a thread connect memory and invention?
My process is rooted in observation and collection. I sketch constantly, gather fragments handwritten notes, bits of conversation and build layouts like collages. Sometimes precise, sometimes chaotic, always honest. I believe the best designs feel like a quiet whisper: Look closer. This matters.
If there's a goal in my work, it's to help the ordinary glow. A ferret’s yawn, the fray of well loved fabric, a folktale reimagined in riso ink. These are my love letters to a world full of overlooked poetry.
Bio
Maryana Soto is a Peruvian visual designer and storyteller, currently based in the U.S. and pursuing her BFA in Design. Her creative world is built around sketchbooks, risograph prints, and the playful chaos of life with her two ferrets.
Raised in Peru, Maryana draws deeply from her heritage infusing her work with the vibrant colors of Andean textiles, the rhythms of folk tales, and a soft focus on everyday intimacy. Whether she’s designing illustrated zines, editorial spreads, or narrative guides, her work lives at the intersection of emotion and structure. She treats cultural memory not as something to archive, but as something alive and evolving.
She’s especially interested in the overlooked stories the kind that reveal themselves in small acts of care, curious animals, and patterns passed down by hand. Her work invites viewers to slow down and notice: the texture, the tenderness, the quiet things that matter.
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