Cheryl Maeder was born and raised in Elmwood Park, New Jersey on June 18, 1949. In her early 20's she moved to Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied photography at Zurich University of the Arts. After 8 years in Switzerland, she returned to the United States and opened her studio in San Francisco where she photographed international advertising & fashion campaigns for clients such as Sony, AT&T, Visa, Calvin Klein, Marriott Hotels among others. She transitioned from photographing fashion models to photographing real women. She wanted to celebrate the beauty of women in all shapes and sizes. Her photography work became the inspiration for the global Dove Campaign on 'Real Women, Real Beauty', which was shown in the United States and throughout the world, transforming the way women are perceived in the media. That campaign was a real defining moment and ended up as not only advertisements, but also video, workshops, sleepover events and the publication of a book and a play. Oprah featured it on her TV Show.
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| Cheryl Maeder's 'Meditation', Les Copines Series. |
“The artist has made a career out of creating work that is the opposite of what others are doing – shooting out of focus and fuzzy when the trend is hyper definition, aiming her lens at plus size women when the trend is super skinny; and projecting video when the theme is murals. But she makes it all work and makes her work stand out by doing so,” said arts writer Sandra Schulman about Cheryl Maeder and her work.
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| Cheryl Maeder, 'Submerge I'. |
In 2005, she relocated her studio to the Miami area and deeply immersed herself into filmmaking and fine art. Her investigations into video and installations expanded her world. Through the exploration of new technologies, opportunities for creative collaborations have occurred for large-scale installations, as well as local, national and international exhibitions.
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| Submerge Series, Public Art Video Installation, City of West Palm Beach, Florida. |
Cheryl Maeder is an internationally collected visual artist & filmmaker at the forefront of art and technology, creating never-been-seen before interactive installations, such as her famous limited edition photograph with video of Les Copines, Awakening.
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| Les Copines, 'Awakening', Photograph & Video Installation, 1/5. |
One of Cheryl's most iconic fine art photography series is Submerge, a famous collection of works that were selected for a Public Art Video Installation by the City of West Palm Beach for Canvas Outdoor Museum Exhibition. The Submerge Series explores the relationship human beings have with the environment. The human body contains 70% of water fluids and the oceans waters cover more than 70% of the Earth itself. Water represents our connectedness to the Earth and to each other. Submerge is the courage and willingness to take the leap into the depths of the Waters of the Soul.
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| PBS for Project Filmmaker, South Florida |
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| Enchanted, interactive art installation at Cornell Art Museum |
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| Enchanted multi-media art installation at Cornell Art Museum in Delray Beach, Florida |
Enchanted is a Conceptual Interactive Forest Installation by Cheryl Maeder and Diane Arrieta, who combine their works to present a modern fairy tale experience that collides with the realities of our modern world [e.g. extinction and rising waters]. Focusing on the beauty and lessons we as humans can learn from our natural landscapes and inhabitants. By constructing a faux natural environment, based on land and sea, the artists are conveying the need to “slow down and smell the flowers” before it [nature] disappears.
For more information about this artist, sales or inquiries, contact: maeder@maederphotography.com
www.maederphotography.com
