I work with forms that inform, birth, nurture, and converse in a dynamic interplay. My practice is in constant dialogue with abstract shapes, pushing beyond the constraints of the figurative, material world to seek an opening into animism—into whatever may wish to come through. Through this abstract language, I explore the brutal legacies of capitalism and colonialism, while imagining pathways toward climate justice and radically hopeful futures. I construct multidimensional spaces where participants are not just observers but are invited to confront their own cognitive dissonance and passive acceptance of hegemonic narratives.
My practice is a form of deep inquiry—an exploration of my own humanity and an invitation for those who engage with my work to do the same. It demands reflection, unlearning, and active participation, urging viewers to confront the fractured systems that shape our existence. Through this process, I aim to disrupt passive observation and instead foster a space where people are called to question the narratives and structures they’ve internalised.
In the midst of this global polycrisis, releasing stories into the world carries immense responsibility. Stories have the power to create fractures in our cognitive dissonance and challenge our passive acceptance of hegemonic narratives. My work weaves together painting, sound, video, and sculpture to tell immersive, multi-sensory stories, inviting participants to look toward the ongoing collapse of our social and ecological systems—and our shared humanity. They are asked to sit with the pain of this unraveling and consider how they might be transformed by it. Perhaps, in this fragile space between collapse and awakening, the possibility for a different world could begin to take shape.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Mara Adina is an internationally recognised visual artist and filmmaker whose work spans visual art, film, sound, and immersive installation. Her documentaries have screened widely in cinemas across the US and Europe, streamed on platforms including Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max, and been presented at major international festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, London Film Festival, Hot Docs, and DOC NYC.
Originally classically trained as a fine artist, Mara built a career in filmmaking, crafting politically engaged documentaries that confront the harsh realities of our time. While working at the highest levels of the documentary industry, her practice increasingly turned toward questions of power, extraction, and the limits of representation within dominant cultural systems.
In 2022, she returned fully to visual art, merging her filmic sensibilities with bold, immersive installations. Her work now spans large-scale oil paintings, sculptural interventions, video, and sound installations that interrogate the legacies of capitalism and colonialism, while imagining pathways toward climate justice and radically hopeful futures. Rooted in feminist ecology, systems thinking, and relational practice, her work seeks to move beyond explanation toward embodied experience—creating spaces where viewers are invited to feel, reckon with, and reimagine their relationship to a rapidly collapsing world.