Maria has been teaching at Guilford since 2023. Maria makes paintings and sculptures out of everyday objects including old patterned bed sheets and newspapers. She has participated in artist residencies through Lighthouse Works, Hambidge Center, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Petrified Forest National Park, and Vermont Studio Center. Her textile-based works and paper sculptures have been included in exhibitions with the Weatherspoon, Greensboro, NC; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Sumter County Gallery of Art, Sumter, SC; LABspace, Hillsdale, NY; Appalachian State, Boone, NC; Lump, Raleigh, NC; Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL; SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA; BAM, Brooklyn, NY; and Harbor Gallery, New York, NY, among others. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings. She has written for The Coastal Post and Burnaway and was co-director of the experimental art gallery, LOG.