Maria Manuela Vintilescu’s artistic practice is characterised by the encounter between classical Japanese pictorial tradition and Western popular culture. Inspired by Japanese woodcuts, magazines and the visual expression of the modern Japanese woman, she combines traditional references with contemporary motifs.

Women are often at the centre of her works. Her portraits are characterised by a reduced formal language and are primarily painted in vinyl on canvas, layer upon layer, creating a smooth, almost printed surface.

Vintilescu was born in Stockholm in 1959. An early encounter with Niki de Saint Phalle’s "She – A Cathedral" at Moderna Museet sparked her interest in art. After studying painting, drawing and advertising, she worked as a theatre painter for ten years.