Artist Statement

Nina Muys was born in Vorderstoder, Upper Austria in 1945. She immigrated to America in 1961 and settled in the Bethesda, Maryland area. She soon started to develop her interest in art and attended the Corcoran School of Art, the University of Maryland and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy.

She is a founding member of the Washington Printmakers Gallery where she has been active since 1984 and where she has had several successful solo shows.

Intaglio has been Ms. Muys’ principle form of expression but due to health concerns, she has focused on producing prints that use non-toxic materials. She has invented a method that uses acrylic and carborundum to imitate all the qualities of an etching without its dangerous substances such as acid and solvents.

Nina Muys has a deep and spiritual connection to nature. Her botanical prints express her views that flowers are miracles. The serene landscapes of her present second home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore offer Nina another perspective in which to view and appreciate the natural world.

Many of her works evoke the spirit of Albrecht Duerer who was interested in the inner life of plants, even the humblest in design. What goes on below the surface, such as the mystery of the flowering bulb, is what interests Ms. Muys.

Her passion for travel has resulted in numerous prints of landscapes and architecture.

Since 1984, Nina Muys has participated in 12 solo shows at the Washington Printmakers Gallery. Her most recent retrospective was at the Austrian Embassy in 2008. She has also been part of many invitational show, the latest at the Katzen Center at American University to commemorate 50 years of the Women’s Arts Center.

Nina Muys’ prints are in many national and international collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Library of Congress, the University of Maryland and the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has won numerous awards for her work.

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