Artist Statement



I sew and I paint, everything else is peripheral.

My work aims to bring an awareness of the need for preservation of the natural world and everything (one) in it // by constructing an entirely artificial alternative.


The abused Hollywood star, the suicidal muse, the Earth Mother // Goddess being slowly killed by her careless children are all in line with a history of powerlessness and gender alienation. In a world where abuse of power, violence and misogyny are constantly being justified as part of nature, I feel the need to deconstruct these values by exposing another point of view that speaks of the innate wisdom of the sacred feminine and the necessity for a change of paradigm.


Some subjects that have become central to my research are the objectification of the female form, the subjugation of the colonised body, the iconography of domination and desire, the space designated throughout history for women; the search for the self in the other, a universality through juxtaposition, and the interconnectivity of us all.


The massive soft sculpture dolls I make will most likely outlive me, they carry inside them my footprint, my carbon, plastic-wrapped, food, cosmetic, and other consumer habits.


Things that interest me are: astrology, tarot, mythology, self-acceptance/ love, social justice and pop/consumer culture nostalgia.






Maria Konder

b. 1982, Rio de Janeiro.

makonder22@gmail.com

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