Tell us about yourself.
Maria Dovganiuk was born in Ukraine in 1992, currently, Maria is based in Jerusalem. Maria immigrated to Israel with her mother at the age of 7. Throughout her life, Maria has always been fascinated by fine art and how the world is represented through the eyes of others.
After attending several art classes, Maria was introduced to academic drawing and painting; began painting as a means of dealing with the challenges of immigration and army service.
Maria studied Civil Engineering at the Open University of Israel before completing BA in Ceramics & Glass at the Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem in 2020.
Her work is strongly influenced by her previous studies in engineering highlighting the love for precision and proper technique. Maria studied at the – VDA- Vilnius Art Academy, Lithuania as part of a student exchange program in 2018. She completed several internships, classes at the Corning Museum of Glass, worked as assistant for artists such as sculptor Sasha Serber and glass artist Joseph Cavalieri.
Recent exhibitions have included a commission to make statues for a ceremony in a memory of the Oslo Children’s Disaster 2019, statues were given to elected officials of the ceremony. Permanent installation at the Beit HaNassi (Official residence of the President of Israel- “President’s House”). Glass Art Society Exhibition 2020 and RAFFMA- The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, as part of the International Museum Week 2020. Maria received the prize for high academic achievements at the Bezalel Graduate Exhibition 2020 for her graduate project “InferNow”. Now Maria is working as a research assistant for Bezalel Academy of Arts & design with Ceramic 3D printer.
What draws you to the material you work with?
I mainly use glass as my medium as I find it to have almost mysterious properties, such as transparency and visual illusions, thus it is a perfect material to make my ideas manifest. Glass is poignant in it’s delicateness but equally captivating in its strength.
For me, working with glass is like opening pandora’s box. There is no turning back after experiencing the intoxicating effects of literally playing with fire. The material challenges me due to the spontaneity of the making process, therefore helps me to add the natural and unexpected element to every artwork. Working with glass I feel I can do everything that is impossible in reality.
What themes do you pursue in your work, and why have you chosen the processes that you use in your work?
The main focus of my artistic research is the exploration of the flexibility in my own thinking and re-evaluation of matters, related to human behavior: needs, habits, wishes, and hopes. I aim to challenge the norms of human nature and society.
I approach these topics through the exploration of both folk and modern cultures: the world of symbols, metaphors, proverbs and tales, expressing wisdom and morality. I am constantly in search for analogies, interconnecting stories and plots. I see myself as a visual anthropologist of a modern-day time.
What is your dream project?
What is something about you that most people don’t know?
Why are you a member of GAS?
The main dichotomy of my artistic practice is the freedom of thinking and challenging the conformist norms in my research and the scientific precision in my making, that glass requires as a medium. Being a member of GAS, allows me to do so.