PAPER WEIGHT

The fragility and sensitivity of her creations and chosen material speak to the fleeting nature of life

Who are you and where did it all start?

I’m Maia. I’m a multidisciplinary artist with a particular love for working with paper. I was born and raised in Johannesburg and am currently based in Cape Town.

Making things has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. I reckon it started with a sticky tape dispenser, a pair of scissors and a pile of paper in the back of my parents’ car during road trips.

Growing up, I was always surrounded by extraordinary makers. Creativity and making were highly valued and encouraged in our family. Working with my hands and making things became my way of engaging with and making sense of the world.

Paper as a sculpture medium is quite unique. What made you choose it as your material of choice?

I love the tactility of paper. How it can be transformed with little resistance. I love working with paper because it seems so fragile and yet it has the capacity to transform and hold itself in unexpected ways. I enjoy how considered every action I make needs to be when working because paper is a very sensitive material. Once I make a fold it is there; I can’t take it back. Working with paper reminds me to be present and intentional, while I work but also within my life.

What is your favourite part when creating these magical shapes?

I really enjoy the element of surprise when the last fold is made and the final form emerges. I don’t usually create a work knowing what the end result will look like. There are a few things I decide when I start a new work, such as size and shape of the paper and the angle of the folds. Further than that the result is very much left up to chance. I like to wait and see what happens — that’s what keeps the process interesting and ensures that I am always learning.

What do you aim to communicate with your work?

For me, the process is the most important part of any artwork. The fact that at the end there is a finished work is of less importance and is up for interpretation. I make because it is my way of making sense of the world. The time-consuming nature of folding paper which is so incredibly fragile to the long-term effects of time speaks to the irrevocable and fleeting nature of life. It is not a material that is meant to last. We are here, we live, we experience, and then we are not.

Who or what inspires you at the moment and why?

Currently, I am hugely inspired by the shapes and compositions within the industrial landscapes that can be seen while driving on the highways in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Since moving back to Cape Town this year, after spending so much time in one space in Johannesburg during the initial lockdown last year, I find that I am experiencing moving through the two cities with new eyes. The lines and shapes that inspire me during my day-to-day movements have unintentionally started influencing the collages and drawings I am making that are then folded into final works.

As an artist, what advice would you give your younger self?

I have yet to meet a child that says that when they grow up, they want to be an artist. I think for a long time I wasted a lot of energy trying to figure out “what I wanted to be” while, actually, I think if one is a maker or a creative person that is something that is inherent and not necessarily a choice. I think very few people would choose to do it if it was. It is not an easy path but it’s a rewarding one. My advice would probably be to commit and just pursue what is enthralling no matter what. I also really wish someone would’ve told me there are many different definitions of success; and that feeling a sense of purpose every day is as valuable as any other notion of success.

Would you ever consider working with another medium, and if so what would that be?

I am enthralled by a number of other mediums, especially metal, clay, and fibre. For me, art-making is about curiosity and exploration — I am interested in the conversations that different mediums provide; each offers different parameters and different possibilities. I really enjoy interdisciplinary approaches to making.

Whose work would you love to own and why?

There are so many artists whose work I really admire, but few whose work I feel I could live with. I think the artworks I always long to own are those by the artists and creatives that I know well. I really enjoy owning artworks that have a deeper and more meaningful story to me than just my own resonance with the work.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working towards my masters in fine art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, so there are a lot of interesting explorations in the works. I am also facilitating various paper sculpture and creative bookbinding workshops in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

If you could collaborate with anyone of your choice, who would that be and why?

Studio DRIFT is definitely on the list of dream collaborations. I find the way they combine technology and properties inspired by nature to create experimental kinetic sculptures and installations completely extraordinary.