Maureen Chatfield is a contemporary artist whose work fuses New York Abstract Expressionism with Bay Area Figurative painting. Her process is spontaneous and intuitive—shapes, lines, and color harmonies emerge organically as she paints, rather than from premeditated plans. Each piece is a response to the emotional and experiential forces shaping her life, with memories and feelings translating directly into color.
Her work is in constant evolution, built through layered experimentation that reveals the traces beneath—pentimento that adds depth and complexity. Her non-objective pieces stem from internal reflection, while her abstracted landscapes are inspired by nature, transformed through her unique internal lens. Influences such as Gorky, Guston, Diebenkorn, Kline, de Kooning, Rothko, and de Staël guided her shift into abstraction.
Chatfield studied at the Art Students League, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, FIT, and Hunter College. Painting since childhood, she began with oils and now works in acrylics on large canvases, allowing for fast layering and vibrant color. For her, painting is a dynamic process of discovery—invigorating, unplanned, and ever-changing.