Artists

At the heart of the composition lies a grid that provides form and structure, yet lends the work a sense of fragility. The translucent layers of colour resist the rigidity of the pencil lines, opening up biomorphic pictorial spaces in which a tension unfolds. Mariam Abashidze (they/them) understands the series as a portrait of the past two years they have spent in Switzerland. During this time, they repeatedly encountered invisible rules, administrative structures and bureaucratic processes seeking to regulate personal life within society. Baseline invites us to consider individual lives not as acts of resistance, but as a norm in their own right.

The four sculptural paintings evoke the leaves of a tree, tracing the cyclical transformations of the seasons and the ways in which they shape our perception of reality. Mariam’s practice is process-based, following rhythms in analogy with the cycles that govern the natural world.

The grid is a recurring element in your work. What significance does it hold for your artistic process?
The grid has been a feature of my work for many years. By painting over this empty grid, I subvert its original function. No data is entered; instead, movement, colour and material overlay the predefined structure. For me, this represents a form of resistance against standardised systems and fixed orders.

At the same time, it is important to me that every line is drawn by hand. No two grids are alike. I am not interested in perfection or repetition, but in the subtle variations that arise during the creative process. They remind me of natural processes, which are also never identical, but thrive on variation and change.