Hand-Cut Layers,
One-of-a-Kind Art

Maura Lucchese grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, guided by her father—a senior design engineer for the Space Program—who channeled her quick, curious mind into creative excellence. At school she studied under R. L. Lewis of the famed Florida Highwaymen, and before starting a family she launched Maura’s Magic Marble Candles, a cult favorite among the rock stars of the grunge era that routinely sold out in galleries.

A series of life-altering tragedies later pushed Maura to a crossroads: surrender to despair or transform it. She chose transformation. While recovering from brain and spinal-cord injuries under intense public scrutiny, she discovered collage as therapy. Each portrait—crafted from nothing but recycled magazines and varnish on stretched canvas or wood—requires 350 to 400 hours of precise cutting and layering. The resulting works are raw, luminous testaments to resilience, now collected by art lovers worldwide.

Through her practice Maura harnesses the full spectrum of human emotion to spark positive change. Her mission: dismantle labels that confine the vulnerable, expose abuses against people and planet, and cultivate a culture where empathy and pro-social action are the rule, not the exception.