Maryna Pretorius

artkapture (41)in #resteemator • 7 years ago

Every year I attend the students end of assessment exhibition at Tshwane University of Technology to keep track of and search for new talent.
When going to these types of exhibitions, it's a little bit different, you have to view the works in terms of potential as they are 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students.
So it was on one of these occasions that I came across Maryna's work.

I had strolled through the various students work, each student getting a little cubicle to show their work and yes I saw one or two showing some potential....but not Maryna...no Maryna took up the whole back wall of the University gallery as well as the floor space against said wall. The wall was about 10m or more and Maryna filled every inch with A4 and A3 size drawings. On the floor were small ceramic sculptures and drawing files filled with more drawings.

At first I almost overlooked it, strange as it may seem, there was just too much, too much work, too much chaos, too disorganized...too...too...toooooooo much to take in. But I did stop. Many of works were on scrap pieces of paper, but I stopped. I started looking at each little individual piece, each and every file.

Maryna showed a dedication that I have never seen before or since. I wondered if she ever slept at all.

I found her lecturer and asked to meet her. The lecturers were used to me being there and knew that I was there to find young artists to exhibit. The lecturer looked slightly surprised, (but tried to hide it) that I was scouting Maryna, her works were not the obvious choice. They weren't typical in any way, shape or form.

She gave me a bit of information and then introduced me. Maryna had a nervous energy and seemed rather naive in many ways. We chatted briefly and arranged to meet at my gallery the following week and told her to bring a couple of works with her.
Her mother brought her and waited in the car. I watched from the gallery window as Maryna got out the car and then started retrieving suitcases out of the boot of the car.I repeat SUITCASES. Each suitcase was stuffed with drawings and we began laying them out on the floor of the gallery. There wasn't enough space. It was sensory overload on steroids.

We talked for a while about her and her influences. Most of her work didn't seem to have exterior influences.
The more we spoke the more I began to understand her barriers, but it's exactly those life barriers that give her zero inhibitions when it came to creating.
Maryna is Bi-polar, OCD and dyslexic.
Her compulsive behaviour manifests in her creation process, she must constantly create, she must draw and if she doesn't have paper, her body becomes her canvas.
Being Bi-polar creates extreme moods from higher than high to the depths of depression and every emotion is put to paper.
Her work is an outpouring of herself, no holding back, no inhibitions.

She amazes me, she has so much that could hold her back, but she just keeps creating.
Now comes the problem though, the one thing that she cannot overcome is that she can't approach galleries or promote her work, she has to overcome this some how or her work that is so well deserving of credit will not get to the public's eye.

I had a solo exhibition for Maryna, where I wanted to convey her creative compulsion. We filled a smaller gallery with drawings on the walls and spread on the floors, creating an instillation. It was as if for just a moment she could share her chaotic thoughts and experience with others. She sold very well, surprisingly well, people saw what I saw, people understood her difficulties.

Maryna is an incredible young artist and have so much respect for her and her bravery.

WISHES ARE TABOO
MARYNA PRETORIUS
PEN ON PAPER