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 is an internationally renowned filmmaker with films playing on Netflix, Hulu, HBO max, screened in cinemas across the US and Europe and in festivals around the world including Sundance Film Festival, London Film Fest Festival, Hot Docs, Doc NYC and many more. She originally studied fine art, was classically trained but set her paint brushes aside when she started making films in 2005.
In 2019 whilst living in Los Angeles, on one of her daily walks around the neighbourhood, she stumbled upon an unused canvas left on the side of the road. She decided to pick it up and take it home along with some acrylics found at the 99 cent store. With that canvas she started playing, and almost instantly her love for colour and deep need for creative play came rushing back. Week by week and day by day, she started nurturing her creative practice and at the start of 2022 she decided to transition from a career in documentary, back into visual arts.
Her current ever-growing creative practice spanns visceral oil paintings, sculptural interventions and video and sound installations.
She is currently preparing for her second solo exhibition, "A Relational Web of Being and Becoming," while simultaneously expanding her practice into multi-sensory, interdisciplinary realms.