Bio

Maylene Rasmussen was born in the ancient Gandharan Buddhist city of Taxila in northern Pakistan, a country where she spent most of the next half century.  She is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, where she trained in drawing and painting in the tradition of classical realism, and also studied at the Hanoi University of Fine Arts in Vietnam, where she learned lacquer painting. 

A world citizen, Maylene has lived and exhibited in galleries in Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Jordan, Bangladesh, Italy, USA, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. She currently lives in Santa Cruz, California.

CV

EDUCATION

2016  Certificate of Drawing & Painting, Florence Art Academy, Italy
2009  Anatomy Course, Atelier School of Classical Realism, Oakland, CA, USA
2005  Lacquer Technique under artists Saeko And and Nguyen Huy Hoan, Hanoi, Vietnam
2004  Certificate Lacquer Technique and Oil Painting, Hanoi University of Fine Arts, Vietnam

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025
Santa Cruz Art League Gallery Member’s Exhibition, group exhibition, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Open Studios Art Tour, Santa Cruz, California, USA
The Loft Salon & Spa Gallery, solo exhibition, Santa Cruz, California, USA

2024
Santa Cruz Art League Gallery Member’s Exhibition, group show, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Open Studios Art Tour, Santa Cruz, California, USA

2023
Open Studios Art Tour, Santa Cruz, California, USA

2022
17th Avenue Studios Summer Art Show, Santa Cruz, California, USA

2019
“Women of My World,” British Village Inn, solo exhibition, Abuja, Nigeria
Argentine Embassy Exhibition, Afro-Argentine Day, Female Artists Association of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
Kulture Kode Art Hub Gallery, Abuja Art Week, Nigeria

2018
"Women Of My World”, Tribal Gallery, solo exhibition, Nairobi, Kenya

2017
"Perspective", Spotlight Art Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh
"Windows on Dhaka," The American Club, Bougainvillea Gallery, with Photographer Shehzad Noorani, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2016
Porto Romano Open Studio, Advanced Painting Program, Florence Academy of Art, Italy

2015
Bandiera Open Studio, Intermediate Painting Program, Florence Academy of Art, Italy

2014 
Nabad Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2012 
Dar Al-Anda Art Gallery, solo exhibition, Amman, Jordan
Nabad Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2011 
Nabad Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Nomad Gallery, solo exhibition, Islamabad, Pakistan

2010
Salon Oblique Pop-Up, San Francisco, USA
Regale Winery and Vineyard, solo exhibition, Santa Cruz, USA
City Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA

2009
City Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA
City Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Nomad Gallery, solo exhibition, Islamabad, Pakistan

2008 
Tanzara Gallery, solo exhibition, Islamabad, Pakistan

2007
Nomad Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan

2005 
Hanoi University of Fine Art, solo exhibition, Vietnam

2004
Hanoi University of Fine Art, Vietnam

AWARDS

2015  Honorable Mention Award, Cast Feature Painting, Florence Academy of Art
2009 First Place, UNIFEM Poster Contest, Pakistan

PRESS

2009 Posters protest women's plight, Dawn Islamabad Newspaper, by Jamal Shahid, March 8
2008 Display of lacquered sculptures, figurative paintings at Nomad, The News, by Mahtab Bashir, June 30
2007 Home is Where the Heart Is, GT Magazine, by Wajiha Khar, January 16-31