Maria BARBAN solo exhibition：Revelation— The ceremony of dreams
Through the eyes of the post-90s young generation, I observe, capture, and explain the various short-lived and strange, group phenomena, crazes and crowds in contemporary society. Capitalism has influenced this society for more than a century, creating an acquired environment through consumer behavior, but it has become an unnatural situation for humans. Human society no longer looks squarely at the contrived state of the global society, but instead narrows its own eyes to individuals and has become a carrier of capitalism through consumer behavior. We follow the steps of society and actively want to create “Utopia,” a place that seems to be more and more progressive and freer, yet is becoming more and more artificial.
Compared with Cyberpunk ’s active confrontation against capital, system and technological acceleration, the post-90s youth generation has taken to passive observation as a countermeasure toward capitalism, and has transformed the its global absurdities. This phenomenon is stylized in my art as psychedelic, surreal, and fantastic, presenting the disillusionment of the younger generation.
With the advancement of science and technology, the eyes of the younger generations will bring different ways of watching, mixing the steps of passive resistance, bringing out the distress of the younger generation and its interpretation of the world. Through our eyes and hands we create models of the problems faced by all human beings at this moment.
The unique figure that lingers in each creation-「doll head」, comes from my ethnic identity. The identity of the mulatto is always a label that others have attached to me. Once it is labeled, it builds a high wall between myself and others. I will always be the other to them. The doll head becomes an outsider figure, which is the artist. At the same time, it means that the external observer is also represented by the doll head. Everyone is a victim of this era, but also a beneficiary. Starting in 2019, the purpose of the doll head has evolved. Although it is a stand-in for the external self, now it is also the protagonist of my retro-future stage. It is the dominant figure and the other characters in the picture are in an obedient relationship, like the role of Big Brother in the novel 1984, which monitors and controls the world.
