Witch’s ladder

source: palaisdetokyo

Maria Loboda (b. 1979 in Krakow, lives and works in London) is seeking to transform knowledge into objects, seeing the world as a set of signs to be deciphered. She derives inspiration from the cultural heritages of the past, between folklore and mysticism, science and obsolescence. The plurality of her focuses of interest is reflected in her multiple practice, the artist herself saying:
“I am considering language as a possible material amongst others, like music, tapestry, botanics, ceramics, curtains or pigments”. Between rationality and magic, the artist brings into dialogue subjects and references which a priori ought never to have met. Her works are at first sight very appealing, but in reality offer enigmas to be deciphered, even traps to be avoided.
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source: friezeprojectsnyorg

Maria Loboda’s work analyzes systems of communications, underscoring the transformative power of languages and codes. Reflecting upon the relationship between nature and verbal communication, Loboda has realized a number of works in which the natural world is analyzed through the lens of language. Taking as inspiration the lush parkland of Randall’s Island, the artist will turn an area of the park into a color-coded garden, an exact replica of an illustration of a European interior design motif from the 19th century. Interested in the precision of color mapping, the artist translated the two-dimensional image into a living landscape of plants, flowers and shrubs, highlighting not only the relationship between interior and exterior, but also between two and three-dimensional landscapes. Loboda’s project incorporated a bespoke perfume that takes as its inspiration an abstraction of tobacco. Loboda’s aspiration was to transport the audience of the work to a smoking room populated by elegant women who are exchanging ideas for their next worldwide art adventures. Loboda worked with the Swiss fragrance business Firmenich to realize her Project, which was supported by The Fragrance Foundation.
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source: museoreinasofiaes

María Loboda siente un interés especial por la década de 1920, un periodo que nació de un trauma bélico y en el que se larvó otro aún más cruento. En la exposición, esa vivencia del impasse, de la extraña calma que precede y sucede a la tormenta, es sugerida por piezas como Interbellum o por la presencia de un solitario guante de cetrería que parece haber perdido su razón de ser. En otras obras, la artista aborda la oblicua relación entre la violencia y lo sagrado (mostrando la persistencia del tabú en el inconsciente social) o propone una huida de la historia mediante el uso de un pigmento propio de la cerámica china y coreana, el celadón, que le permite crear un vacío monocromo libre de referentes.