Maruki Nowacki sat down with us to discuss her work, the influence of Buenos Aires on her perception of reality, and the ideas and experiences that shape her artistic inspiration.
INSTAGRAM @maruki___Surrounded by the vibrant artistic atmosphere of Buenos Aires, Argentinian artist Maruki Nowacki has developed an extensive career spanning painting, visual installations, and written texts. Her work often explores the absurd as a gateway to reality, it seeks to abstract objects from their real function and liberate them toward more unsettling meanings of language. At the heart of her practice lies a central question: how far can new forms of existence be enabled by bringing different languages into relation with one another?
Having received her artistic education in Buenos Aires, Nowacki’s work has been presented in renowned spaces and institutions, including the International Fashion Showcase in London and Battle Planas exploring the collection, curated by Claudio Iglesias at the Fundación Fortabat. Her notable exhibitions include La Música Es Una Trampa at Agatha Couture (2016) and Soñé Que Me Rapaba Me Convertía En Varón Y Desfilaba Con Un Papel Entre Los Dientes, curated by Alejo Ponde De León at UV Estudios (2017,) with her first solo displays took place at Buenos Aires Under Scene. Since 2018, she has also been a member of the editorial team of the Argentine magazine Revista Segunda Época.
Her latest exhibition, Figment (OH NO Galería, Buenos Aires,) brings together a compelling ensemble of paintings which delves into the boundaries between reality and imagination, exploring various facets that artistic creation can enter the unconscious and extract new possibilities. Nowacki shared with Jetset Times to discuss her work, the way she perceives the world, and the ideas and experiences that continue to inspire her.
Photo by @ohnogaleriaLiving and working in Buenos Aires, do you feel the city’s cultural, social, or political landscape influences the themes you explore in your work?
Everything I experience, observe, and feel influences my work. My city, with its people and artists, its economic situation and its crises, but also its strength, are all things that I live with and mark the way I see and comprehend art. My projects are nourished by everything which surrounds me.
Photo by @ohnogaleriaWhat is the core element which connects all your projects, from paintings and texts to textile installations?
Everything is connected through the sum of languages that, from different perspectives, are determined by the same concerns. Although paintings, texts, and textile installations have different configurations, they allow me to approach these ideas from different viewpoints. I see rhythm as a common structure of thought, one that can be translated across different fields.
Wittgenstein says the limits of your language are the limits of your world. I think art is a way of exploring them more deeply. Each project becomes an opportunity to move through those limits, to discover what each language makes possible, and to continue exploring the questions that connect the different forms of my work.
Photo by @maruki_nowYour work questions the mechanisms behind reality and the systems that shape our understanding of the world. Do you see your art as a way of challenging those structures, or simply making them more visible?
I’m interested in questioning what’s taken for granted. I believe that imagination and knowledge are in crisis today because a fundamental condition for understanding is to stop and pay attention. My work is born from imagination, memory, and the substratum of images I once observed and that captured something I’m interested in bringing back to the world in a reworked form. For me, taking notice is essential. Technology today is leaving us without the possibility of stopping to observe and perceive. It’s limiting our experience of our own world. It’s impoverishing us.
Photo by @maruki_nowIs there a recurring idea which keeps finding its way back into your work?
I love examining the limits of what exists and what does not. This exhibition explores the word “figment” and the root of that word, “figmentum.” These terms refer to something which seems real or true, but only exists in one’s mind or imagination. They open a space for thinking about what is imagined, what is perceived, and what can become part of the world through the act of creating. In this exhibition, the origin of the word itself becomes a way of entering that territory and exploring its different outcomes. For me, a figment is a mental intention which, through the force of its intensity, becomes visible.
Photo by @maruki_nowTalking about your future projects, what are you exploring next which excites you the most?
My ideas often intertwine from art show to art show; there’s a common thread. I’m interested in the possibilities that each moment and space opens up. The present as matter.
Explore Maruki Nowacki’s portfolio for an insight into her evolving artistic practice and career.
