Still life artist Maria Tomasula will give a presentation about her works at 7 p.m. today in the Tarble Arts Center.

Still-life paintings are the primary pieces that the artist produces. Tomasula will talk about some of her specific pieces, what inspires her as she paints and how she creates a finished product.

James Yood, a teacher in contemporary art theory and criticism at Northwestern University, said Tomasula operates similar to artists such as Kahlo and Gris but is more poetic and obscure. Her work lies somewhere between elusive and specific, Yood said.

Tomasula’s work creates images that illustrate the critical dilemma of articulation, verbal or visual, and reminds people of the frustration of the human condition, he said.

Chris Kahler, associate professor or art, said the main thing students will learn from the presentation is how a professional artist works.

“The thing people forget is that you can put a lot of interesting things into a still life painting,” he said. “I think it’s very impressive to see an artist of this kind of work.”

In 1987, Tomasula received her bachelor of fine arts at the University of Illinois. In 1989, she received her master of fine arts at Northwestern University in Chicago.

She worked in the department of art theory and practice at Northwestern until 1994. Since then, she has taught as a associate professor at the University of Notre Dame.