Watching Baba Gaïa draw means holding your breath. Each stroke, mark, line, an infinitesimal stitch; a painstaking process. The artist was born in Mauritius, in 1993. Her mother is from Reunion island, and her father is Mauritian, the combination of which leads the young artist to draw inspiration from both insular worlds. Raised between the two islands, she keeps Nature alive in her works. With the influence of traditions of detail embedded in her artistic practice, she creates for her first solo exhibition —at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Mauritius—, variations of mandalas, coaxing the viewer to gaze at the refined, exquisite pieces. At a first glance, Baba’s work appears subdued. But a closer look reveals a complex creative process. Whether we can discern symbolism, religious representations or rites is unclear; the drawings seem to exist in a realm that extends far beyond any significance we can possibly attribute to her work. Her mixed heritage puts her in a state of equilibrium. Her hybridity is transmitted through symmetrical forms. Her stroke is fine, precise. The wondrous microscopic reproductions seem to have popped out of a Wonder-Room. Their intricate lines are evocative of botanical artists. She works within contained shapes and forms, a structure that allows her to recenter herself. She is attentive to arrangement and figurative motifs. In spite of her young age, she has truly mastered her technique, which testifies to the quality of her work and reminds us of the importance of balancing colour for a harmonious result. Though for her there is not just one explanation as to why she draws to way she does, there seems to be something compulsive, neurotic even that permeates her work. The viewer is called to engage in unique sensory experiences as he weaves his way through paper, pens, markers and crayons. For BORDERLINE, Baba Gaïa chooses to step away from her usual practice of filling the page with intricate designs. What she produces is raw, unprocessed and closer to reality. Her choice of colours however, remains as usual: spontaneous, guided solely by Nature and her instinct
Par Alicia Maurel de The Third Dot
En 2016
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