Tate modern : Maria Bartusziva

Maria Bartusziva is a new exhibition in Tate Modern. With the theme of water, rain and germination, Maria used water drops and eggs to display a number of plaster sculptures in a simple colour palette of black, white and grey with a few metallic colours, highlighting the structure and texture of the works. The exhibition is not too big and can be seen in half an hour, but the work is really beautiful and there is a sense of space, so it is worth seeing.

Plaster is her usual material of choice and, inspired by her young daughter, she pours it by hand into balloons to create random abstract shapes. It also gives the sculptures a fragile texture due to the fragile material of the plaster and the balloons themselves. Later, she submerges the plaster-filled balloons in water, pushing and pulling or squeezing them by hand through the pressure of the water to create new shapes and create new series. Some saw her work as resembling raindrops, seeds or eggs, others thought it symbolised the human body, and later she poked the balloons to create a series that resembled cocoons or bird's nests. Since the 1980s, Bartuzova has often placed her work outdoors and documented it with photographs. The exhibition also features a selection of old photographs.