Maria Edit Antal was born in 1972 in Csíkszereda/Mercurea Ciuc in the Hungarian part of Romania. As a child she had an intimate relationship with the powerful Carpats she grew up in. Her mother loves to tell her the story of her as a two year old, running away from home into the landscape, crossing a heavy trafficked road. Antal's childhood is mostly unclear for her. Her best memories are when laying in the grass, soothing herself with the love from the earth. Her mother came alive with her passion for singing. She gave all of herself when singing local folk songs with her people. Antal's father was a folk musician, playing the accordion in a couple of gipsy bands.
Antal's father had the intention early on to escape the Communistic regime led by dictator Nicolai Ceausescu. When she was 8 years old he fled to Sweden, hoping to have his family come after him shortly. They did after 14 months of terror from the secret service, trying to convince Antal's mother to stay.
In Sweden Antal studied visual arts from 1998. At that time she also gave birth to two daughters. The experience of giving birth; surrendering to the process of something you can´t control, came to play an important role in Antal's life and art.
Five months after starting her studies at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts in 2003, her life took a new turn. She started to explore herself emotionally and spiritually similar to the process of giving birth; consciously breathing, accepting the now and surrendering into what is to come. Her mind was beginning to renew connection to the sensations of her body. This process led her to study ecstatic dance. She had the dream to paint for many years. Something was missing for her to be able to paint until the dance came along. Still at the Academy, she decided to focus on painting.
Her most influential art teacher was Kimon Nicolaides. He taught at the Art Students League of New York in the beginning of the 20th century. He wrote a self study book called Natural Way to Draw, with movement as the main theme. Everything is moving, he wrote, even things that seems to be still. Nicolaides emphasized the importance of sensing what things are doing, not what they are, or what they look like. Thinking of Antal's connection with nature as a child, it is not hard to understand her choice of influence. Nicolaides, with his self study book, became her art teacher for many years, alongside her art studies at the University.
Today Antal's painting and dancing are equally important in her creative process. The dance starts to move her, and the painting is communicating movement.