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Rita Maikova
Find me in the Garden -
Rita Maikova
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In another work, a homage to John William Waterhouse’s Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus (1900), we encounter two fragmented female figures, or rather two versions of the same figure, seated on the edge of a waterfall seemingly about to wash or perform some kind of cleansing or healing ritual. They are, like many of the other characters, draped in silky ribbons that serve the dual purpose of both bandages – wrapped over or through the fissures in the characters’ bodies – and clothing or costume. Indeed, there is a theatrical quality to several of the works that taps into ideas around childhood and play. Two paintings depict sandy coloured creatures that appear like camels with their odd, humped-back silhouettes, but are, in fact, representations of the dragons that Maikova and her friend dreamt up as children. ‘We believed the dragons would come and take us into a magical world,’ she says. This is the first time they have appeared in her paintings, each acting as both transportation and residence for a number of her other small creatures. One even appears beneath a glossy, purple curtain as if about to perform some kind of performance or trick. The exhibition’s title references this idea of playfulness and also, perhaps, a longing to return to the simplicity and freedom of childhood.It makes sense that Maikova would experience nostalgia for her own youth just as she is about to become a mother, but the works also express a sense of connection or synergy between the past, the present and the future. In the desert paintings, especially, her characters are intrinsically interconnected, their forms or ‘limbs’ overlapping or weaving through one another to create miniature, self-sustaining ecosystems, at the heart of which there is often a tiny, luminous egg. This is the only direct reference in the works to pregnancy and motherhood, but it is, nevertheless, an important symbol of the way in which Maikova is attempting to find a sense of unity between who she was and is, and who she will become.As she says: ‘We continue to live in a very scary and unstable time, and while I’m not ignoring what’s happening, I believe it is important to also step back, to listen to our instincts and the wisdom of nature so that we can heal ourselves and help to heal others.’
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Rita Maikova: FIND ME IN THE GARDEN
Past viewing_room
