Hungry? Dive right in! Today’s Soup of the Day was cooked up by London-based surreal collage artist Maya Land. 🙂
We all crave something different from time to time; images that blend fantasy with reality can satisfy our sometimes quirky appetites. Until I recently stumbled upon Maya’s work, I didn’t realize surreal collage art was “a thing.” I’ve since noticed other artists who create similar pieces.
But back to Maya. A native Londoner, she’s been interested in art since the age of 5. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Greenwich, then studied oil painting at The Art Academy. After graduating, she soon realized collage art was her true love and hasn’t looked back since.
Maya creates all her work by hand using vintage images she’s collected over the years. With this element of nostalgia, she explores political and social issues we face in contemporary society.
She’s inspired by life experiences — hers and that of others — in addition to books and music. She enjoys exploring the magic in simple everyday life — mainly people and our wonderful planet.
Her pieces tend to follow certain themes: the Universe, Home and what ‘home’ means to different people, an Underwater series inspired by the mystery of life in the oceans, and Inside/Outside — a series inspired by her love of indoors but need for outdoors, and trying to find a balance between the two.
My favorite is her Food series (no surprise), which is featured in this post. She sourced her images from old cookbooks and magazines. Nothing ho-hum about any of it. Definitely grabs your attention and makes you think.
Maya’s work has been exhibited in galleries around London, including The Royal Academy of Arts and Saatchi Gallery. Her work was shortlisted for three consecutive years for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
For more, visit Maya Land’s Official Website, Instagram, and Etsy Shop. She sells originals, prints in different sizes, stationery (postcards, greeting cards, calendars) and mugs. Worth a look: Maya’s originals featured at Saatchi Art (you’ll get to see work in other series besides food).
I don’t know about you, but from now on whenever I eat soup, I’m going to make sure there isn’t anyone floating around in my bowl. 😀
*Copyright © 2025 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 
What a yummy post! I’d love to live inside the house inside the cake.
And would you please reveal who did the charming Christmas scene
with the corgis at the top of the page?
Thanks and happy holidays, Jama! Do check your soup bowl for
uninvited swimmers.
xo,
Jessica
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That house inside the cake does look inviting. Edible walls! The blog header art is by Tasha Tudor, as indicated in the sidebar. I love corgis, and love that she loved corgis!
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Jama, it’s always sweet to see Tasha Tudor ‘s artistry. And learning about this London wiz of a mash-up artist’s pieces , after serious oil studies, is a giggle. With her name, Maya Land, no wonder many of these collages speak about, well, land elements. My fave moment here is watching diving spoons pierce the green fields, like, yeah, can’t wait to get some food out of Earth! Much fun.
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Happy to hear you enjoyed Maya’s art, Jan. Definitely fun, interesting, and makes you think!!
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