Chilean illustrator and children’s book author Maya Hanisch paints in colorful details that charm and enchant. Her folkloric illustrations give life to beautiful animals, stunning flowers, all carefully embellished with tiny leaves, cute dots, and graceful flourishes.
Maya studied graphic design at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, and painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2015, Maya received the Purple Island Award in the Nami Island International Picture Book Illustration Concours in South Korea for her book Color Animal, in which she brings to life a series of animals using collage. Also in 2015, she was selected to represent Chile in the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, one of the oldest international honors for children's book illustrators. Color Animal was selected among the twenty best children’s books of 2015 by the Chilean institution, Fundación La Fuente.
Her latest book, So Many Things, was published in its first edition in Chile, France, and the US.
Maya has taught classes and workshops at universities and book fairs around the world. Her paintings and collages have been exhibited both in Chile and abroad.