Maya Shoham
“my aspiration in a work of art is to use what the world has to offer.”
Interview by Richard Starbuck
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? Where did you study?
I grew up in Kfar Saba, a small place in Israel, for parents who design spaces, each in a different approach. My dad is an architect and my mom is a stage designer. I feel like a lot of the way I see the world comes from them. I remember sitting in the car next to my dad who would look at a house or a building and explain to me about it. It allowed me to learn to observe the city by the way.
This year I'm about to start my MFA Fine Art studies at Goldsmiths University of London, and am excited to move to this new place. In the past, I have studied at Basis Art and Culture school and Hamidrasha - Beit Berl college of art.
You create installations by combining photography, sculpture, sound and performance, what draws you to the ready-made objects/images you use?
A part of my aspiration in a work of art is to use what the world has to offer. I feel I do not want to limit myself. I want the everyday thrill to enter the creative space.
I refer to the gallery space as a location of occurrence. Sometimes, I see the gallery as a line to the grocery store, a place where people are gathered for food - or something else that has a dimension of life in it. Food allows us to continue living and it answers our passions. Water, like in a sea shore, also attracts people who look for a dimension of life. They look for it in shops and malls. I use this act of search to create a space. I think the use of ready mades comes from the same place. For me images, existing visual perceptions, which are washing our eyes daily in the city or online, are a mirror to the period in which we live.
Like a Machine 2020, installation
Like a Machine 2020, installation
Like a Machine 2020, installation
You refer the gallery space as a stage, could you tell us a bit more about this? What do you hope the audience experience?
I want the audience to feel they've reached an important, but not artistically important, place. It is as important as getting to the place you want to be, where there is an interesting occurrence that catches your attention. Malls do everything to get us there and stay, they have a real interest in getting us to come and purchase. I am preoccupied with this passion of ours, but am trying to put it aside for a moment. I am interested in our longing for the primitive ceremonial encounter, being a part of the group, drinking the water of life. As you connect this encounter with contemporary public spaces it becomes strange, absurd and funny.
Could you tell us about how you have coped during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Have you managed to do much work?
My solo exhibition at the residency I'm in right now opened at the first days of the COVID-19 drama, a few days before going into quarantine. The exhibition didn't receive the exposure I wished for and had to go down immediately after the opening day. It was difficult for me after investing so much in it. Still, it gave me some time alone with the works, to watch and observe them in a different way.
What happens outside has such a direct effect on my ideas and work. These things sattel later and become a new story. Lots of protests erupted out of despair and pain, not only in my country but elsewhere in the world. It might change perceptions of racism and oppression that unfortunately still exist in the world today.
One Man Show, 2019
Like a Machine, 2020
Tell us a bit about how you spend your day / studio routine? What is your studio like?
This past year I was part of a residency program at a place called Yafo Creative. It is an otman house and gallery space where I was living and creating throughout the year. As part of the residency I've presented a solo exhibition for the space. It was an interesting experience because I collected the things that happened on the street and tried to put them into the gallery. Living next to the gallery and studio allows me to get up in the morning and go to the studio, draw sketches from a notebook and build models at every hour. Another important aspect of my routine is photographing a lot of things I see on the street that inspire me, almost obsessively. I do not make a big separation between the studio as a creative space and the outside world. The creative ideas can come while running in the park or cycling around the city. When these ideas finally go into action they require planning because they are usually created on a large scale.
As I create in mix media, the creation process requires the use of a few different workshops. I remember having at school workshops for iron, wood and digital printing, so I could easily create a piece in a few working days. Today, around a month before an exhibition, I use a small size model and sketches to build the works with various workshops.
What artwork have you seen recently that has resonated with you?
A few weeks ago I've watched an online dance piece by choreographer Sharon Eyal. It caught me because she has a deep deep inside rhythm, sometimes like a trans. When you see the dancers moving you feel a lot and it's beautiful. of course nothing can be compared to see it live.
Is there anything new and exciting in the pipeline you would like to tell us about?
I'm working on an upcoming exhibition with an interesting curator named Xi Ming in London. I believe it's going to be interesting.
All images are courtesy of the artist
Date of publication: 02/09/20
