Trained as a painter, practicing as a photographer and video artist, Maria Friberg produces lush, large-scale works through which she explores social conventions, asking viewers to consider the nature of the structures that define us and revealing how we are defined by forces outside of ourselves. The imposing scale of her works draws viewers into their precisely composed, painterly scenes, as she describes: “The scale is very important. I like that the viewer can be a part of the photo physically. They are not windows that you’re supposed to peep into.” People are at the center of almost all of her works, shot against plain or abstract backgrounds, or ensconced in natural or dream-like settings. Power-suited men are recurring subjects—for Friberg, they serve as poignant representations of the struggle between submission and self-expression with which we all contend.