An alumna of Trinity College Dublin and Leiden University, Maria has published peer-reviewed scholarly papers and photographic projects in various journals. In her academic research, Maria examines the representation of traumatic absences in film and photography and is developing a methodological framework for applying deconstructivist philosophy within the context of lens-based visual media. She further investigates the spectator’s affective response to the portrayal of trauma, while conceptualizing spectatorial experience as an act of witnessing.

Maria's current film project titled A Triptych of Loss explores trauma from the varying perspectives of three characters, each dealing with an experience of self-erasure as a result of their perceived loss of something in the past, the present, or the future. Each of the characters finds themselves slipping into a dreamscape of an inaccessible temporality, failing to engage with reality. And each is challenged to face their loss, either to let go of their attachment to the pain or to let go of their reality.

Maria holds a BA in English Studies (First Class Honours), an MSc in Computer Science (Interactive Digital Media), and an MA in Film and Photographic Studies (cum laude). In addition, she spent a year on an exchange programme at the National University of Singapore, where she studied classical and ritual Asian drama. In 2021-2022, she authored and taught the ten-week writing course "The Craft of Screenwriting" at the Mulholland Academy in Amsterdam.

Maria is based in the Netherlands and Ireland.