Installation - Maya Skarzenski

Maya Skarzenski creates creatures out of soft sculptures called Wonks. These creatures are trapped between contradictory roles; they are harmless and insidious, anxious and excited, independent and codependent, symbiotic and parasitic. Together they act as organs but they separate to become individuals. Tied to each other, they protect themselves while falling victim to their own masochism. They are afraid of themselves yet they cling on to each other for security. As abstract as they are they become symbols of sexuality, physical health, and identity. Wonks become the physical manifestations of our ambivalence and contradictions. Their softness and inability to hold shape open our minds to change and flexibility. They are relics of the inconsistencies of our inner monologues. They reinsert the fluidity in our lives we are told to ignore and oversimplify. They are the unformed bodies in a constant state of flux.

Installation for Keep it Alive, 2021