Baba Yaga is a feared figure in Slavic mythology, but she is also a figure of great wisdom and a guardian of deep, ancient knowledge. For me, Baba Yaga embodies patience, slowing down and sinking into a more natural way of living, making and creating. She symbolises the idea of time – not in the linear, hurried way of modern life, but as something cyclical and eternal.
One thing I love about Baba Yaga is that she is not all good like the fairy godmothers of my childhood: Baba Yaga is commanding and powerful, and she is not always benevolent; she has a dark side, just like nature. But Baba Yaga does also have a sense of natural justice, rewarding the good and stymying the undeserving. Often, she challenges those who seek her help, but these trials serve to test and strengthen the seeker, rewarding bravery, intelligence, and perseverance.
Nymphs are a series of three sculptures depicting nature beings. Embedded in their bodies are various found objects, such as Scrabble tiles, rusty bolts, and fragments of toys which symbolise the chaotic remnants of human creation and life. The seemingly random objects embedded in these sculptures represent fragments of human experience and knowledge, disconnected yet woven together to form a cohesive whole. Here, what may seem disjointed or insignificant on its own can, when viewed from a different perspective, become part of a larger, more meaningful narrative.
I was really interested in the idea that human life is riddled with imperfections and blemishes – flaws that will persist through time. However, rather than viewing these imperfections as purely negative, I would encourage viewers to see the beauty in these flaws. Nymphs are mystical beings from the natural world, that serve as guides for reclaiming these imperfections, teaching us how to repurpose what is broken or damaged into something magical, meaningful, and healing.
Baba Yaga reminds us to trust in life’s natural cycles, like the harvest and the changing of the seasons. Baba Yaga knows the secrets of nature, the magic of herbs, and the cycles of life that ordinary people cannot see. The hollow space in her chest is a portal to another world, where Baba Yaga draws her knowledge from the earth and forest around her.
The copper cauldron with feathers speak to ancient the traditions of ritual or folklore. They symbolise a connection to a forgotten past, where rituals and magic were used to make sense of our place in the world; reminding us of a truth we almost lost – that there will always be power and wisdom in the symbols and rites of the ancestors and elders.
I have made the Baba Yaga sculpture with a cloth body so that she can be held, like a talisman, a magical doll or a familial elder prepared to share the wisdom of her years.
In conclusion, this sculpture explores a complex interplay of mortality, memory and ritual. It juxtaposes human vulnerability with ideas of dehumanisation in a modern age, creating a commentary on themes of transformation, patience, timeless wisdom and the cycle of life.
Baba Yaga serves as a keeper of the mysteries of life, nature, and time, urging us to respect and listen to the natural world and the wisdom of the past.
