Maria Belova
Maria Belova is a performance, video and photography artist based in Vienna.
We talked about sign language, which is a central element in her current practice, her interest in linguistics and how language is shaped and created by humans and influences them and their culture at the same time. We also touched on russian poetry in her work - she lived in Moscow her whole life until moving to vienna a few years ago - and her use of religious imagery and topics in her artworks.
Maria Belova’s artistic interest ranges from performative to media art. Through her conceptual works she explores the fundamental questions at the core of our existence aiming to better understand human nature.
Maria Belovas adaption of poses in paintings by old masters with religious imagery.
“Introduction into Russian Poetry” is a series of eight prominent Russian poems from the 20th century translated into sign language, documented in the form of black and white photographs, and elaborated with drawings depicting the trajectory of hands in each piece.
The artist performs as a semiotician presenting intersign trajectories between the inner (concept) and outer (physical manifestation) form of the sign. The overall energy of the poem finds resolution in complementing abstract drawings where the line becomes a substitute for a word, recreating the poem in a new dimension. The viewer is invited to unravel what they are looking at through the metamorphosis of notion and form.
Bereshith (2020) is a one channel muted video showing a person performing what seems to be a ribbon dance. The artist is drawing trajectories which correspond to the movements of hands in sign language and so narrates the opening to the book of Genesis — the story of creation.