ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maretta (Marti) Staprāns Barlow
Marti Staprāns Barlow is an immersive media creator and the founder of LAIMA. She is President of her own smaller niche company, HospitalityVision, developing AR chatbots for the hospitality & retirement industry. Hospitality’s goal is to make people feel welcome and happy – she wants her art to do the same.
Her work explores how emerging technologies can strengthen human connection, preserve family stories, support emotional wellbeing, and expand access to art and cultural experiences.
Origins of LAIMA
Latvian Heritage
LAIMA developed from her Master’s capstone research in Immersive Media Communication at the University of Oregon. Her research brought together humane artificial intelligence, EEG brainwave information, music, positive emotion, portraiture, and immersive exhibition design.
As the daughter of Latvian American painter Raimonds Staprāns and a Latvian speaker with dual citizenship, Maretta also brings a deeply personal perspective to questions of artistic legacy, family identity, immigration, cultural heritage, and intergenerational memory.
Career Highlights & Vision
Current Collection
Her first LAIMA collection, RAIMONDS: Portraits of Family Happiness, transforms her family’s emotional stories into a contemporary portrait exhibition connected to her father’s artistic legacy.
The Goal
Her broader goal is to develop LAIMA as a model for museums, galleries, families, and cultural organizations seeking more human-centered ways to use artificial intelligence and immersive technology – bringing people together through art and technology based in science.
Personal Life
She lives in both Corvallis, Oregon and San Francisco, California with her husband John and dog Dexter.