Behind every Poser content creator, there’s a story. For 3D artist, illustrator, sculptor, and crafter Maíra Damásio (aka Afrodite-Ohki), it’s a story of daring creativity, pushing the Poser software to its limits, and using various tools and techniques to produce wholly new works.

Maíra’s products for Poser 12 are more than stunning. They are the product of an original, captivating voice.

The Poser team recently caught up with Maira to discuss her work. Our interview with Maira is below. 

Let’s get some basic information about you. Who are you? And what’s your backstory as a digital content creator?

I'm Maíra Damásio! I'm from Brazil, born and raised and living. I'm not sure I can separate my story from art in general... it's been my life ever since that very first time someone first put a crayon in my baby hands, haha! 

But yes, I've always been the type of "quiet" girl - one that doesn't do many sports and running and such, but is always doing something crafty and won't shut up if I'm talking about something I enjoy. I'm from a small city surrounded by a large family and a handful of close friends.

What got you into digital content?

Once upon a time, back when we had magazines that came with a CD with games and software in it, I found early versions of Poser and Cinema 4d... was very hooked from the start. And before that, before I even had my own computer, I was using my uncle's computer to play with old Photoshop when I got bored while visiting my grandma.  

They say that we don't choose art, art chooses us, and that rings very true for me. It's always just felt very natural for me to cling to various forms of art and crafts.

What do you do in the world of digital content? And how long have you been doing it? 

I was a teen when I started... I'm now 37. We can count over 20 years in that! 

Mostly I create various human (or human-like) character assets to sell (or gift the community in the form of freebies), but sometimes you'll find me creating rendered images when the inspiration for that comes.

What kind(s) of software do you use? And why? What do you like about it/them?

For a while now, my software set has been Poser, Blender, Photoshop, and Substance Painter. They kind of feel like home to me by now. Blender can do a little bit of everything very powerfully, Substance is excellent at texture work, Photoshop has some brilliant tools and features that I haven't found in any other image software, and Poser is just very intuitive and powerful for character rigging. They just work well together.

What has influenced your creativity? 

That's... a loaded question LOL!  I think bits of everything.

I just love people, I guess. I love diversity, I love how every person can be so different, and I love so many artists. If we're talking about artist influence, I definitely have to mention the gentle brilliance of Hayao Miyazaki, the detailed lines of Ayami Kojima, and the powerful women of Luis Royo.

What are you currently working on? 

Shhhh, that's a secret :) No really, I'm under a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Bondware, the parent company for Poser. All I can say is that it's the largest project I've taken up to date, and I really hope it'll come out with a huge bang.

What are you working on for the future? And what are your hopes and dreams for 2023?

Mostly, I hope for growth. I'll keep working on the things I love creating (3D characters, hair, some clothes here and there), but I'm really hoping to see more people coming over to Poser creation, and perhaps coming to be as passionate about it as I am.

Readers of the newsletter are invited to Maira’s store to peruse her Poser-related products.