bio

Maya Økland (b. 1980, Bergen, Norway) is an artist and a curator. She holds an MFA in photography from the Bergen National College of Arts in 2005. Her works are included in the art collections of KODE Bergen Art Museum in Norway (2020) and Halland Art Museum in Sweden (2018). She has exhibited at various venues such as Tenthaus, Oslo; Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo; Varbergs Konsthall, Sweden; Fotogalleriet, Norway; Gallery SíM, Iceland; Telemark Kunstsenter, Norway; Kreuzberg Pavilion, Berlin; Galleria Huuto, Finland; Kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne; Kulturhuset Sermermiut, Greenland among others. Her photobook ‘Stranger in Motherland’ was published by Teknisk Industri in 2017 and launched in Norway at Rogaland Kunstsenter, Stavanger; Entrée, Bergen; Podium, Oslo.

As a curator Maya Økland co-founded and co-curated the artist run gallery KNIPSU in Bergen from 2010 to 2015. In 2015 – 2017 she worked for Director Hanne Mugaas as Curatorial Assistant, Interim Director and Coordinator at Kunsthall Stavanger. In 2021 she was the art advisor for the public sculpture 'Benkene til Kim' by artist Lina Viste Grønli, honoring the legendary gay rights activist Kim Friele (1935-2021). In 2013 – 2023 Økland was part of the editorial staff of the feminist magazine Fett, where she frequently published texts on art and feminism.

Lives and works in Oslo, Norway since 2017.