Maria Svarbova was born in 1988 and currently lives in Slovakia. her background in restoration and archeology has deeply informed her unique aesthetic in photography. Taking an interest in Socialist era architecture and public spaces, Maria transforms each scene with a modern freshness that highlights the depth and range of her creative palette. The human body throughout her oeuvre is more or less a peripheral afterthought, often portrayed as aloof and demure rather than substantive. Carefully composed figures create thematic, dream-like scenes with ordinary objects. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards and has received international acclaim placing her among the vanguard of her contemporaries, attracting features in Vogue, Forbes, and the Guardian.
Her images hold a silent tension that hint at emergent possibilities under the lilt of clean and smooth surfaces. There is often a sense of cool detachment and liminality in Maria’s work.
Plastic World
In Plastic World, Mária’s subjects act as emotionless mannequins. Through blank stares, stiff poses and total absence of emotion, the series challenges the viewer to question the ingrained roles people play in society.
Every image flows into another scene forming the overall narrative of the series — the emptiness and mindless inability to change one’s predetermined role in life with the absence of emotion. Complex and dreamy, Plastic World presents an imaginary world (inspired by historic artifacts and environments of Communist Czechoslovakia).
The series has been compiled through several of the artist’s photographic series.
To view more of Mária’s work please visit her website.