The heart of Maria Bajt’s practice is rooted in memory and experience of the world around
her in which the commonplace becomes imbued with timeless narrative. While mythology
and dreams feature prominently, a polymathic treasury of topics draws upon both
measurable and subjective forms of knowledge combining to create Bajt’s artistic
encyclopedia.

Employing disciplines as diverse as experimental film, science fiction, shamanism or
anthropology, Bajt creates narratives that are immediately personal and relatable; as
relevant in our contemporary world as they would be in Joseph Campbell’s monomyth operative metaphors not just for the artist but also the viewer. In places, organic forms hint at nature but a nature boldly reinterpreted and manifesting as swirling psychedelic bursts or a mystical dreamlike haze. In a manner akin to the ritualistic and repetitive mark-making in early art, Bajt reuses patterns in her work - each adaptation heralding transformation and renewal. Universal archetypes, symbols and patterns, new but ancient, buried deep within our collective consciousness since the dawn of human kind are now excavated and brought to light.

In her practice, Bajt entices the viewer to cross a threshold into other worlds where reality
is magically transformed, a parallel dimension where they are invited to sojourn. Her cavelike installations create a womb-like sense of enfoldment and comfort, reminiscent of
Marija Gimbutas’s feminist perspective on European pre-history and the mother goddess
as the giver and container of all life. Within these caves, a physical metaphor for the
unknown or the subconscious, the viewer finds themselves oscillating between Bajt’s
worlds, small boxed universes, the overall installation in which they are immersed, and the
veiled outside world, creating an uncanny multiplicity of existence where perceptions of
time and place are distorted.

Humble media gains significance far greater than the sum of its parts. Small paper cuttings
grow in confidence, with sculpture and pattern fracturing the confines of their black boxes,
overflowing, escaping, whirl pooling and enveloping not just the entire space but also the
viewer. Boundaries become blurred. Not only those between sculpture, object and painting
but visitor is transformed into actor in Bajt’s mise-en-scène, participating in activating the
space rather than observing at a remove. It is in these theaters that Bajt devises
choreographies where shadows from mythology, folklore and pre-history mingle with the
viewer to create a monomyth for the contemporary world.


Sheeena Malone, Berlin, 30.6.2017