monica maria moraru, Untitled, installation detail (cathedral glass, dragonskin, calea zacatechichi (bitter grass), An Ant in the Mouth of a Furnace, 2022. Courtesy of the artist
In An Ant in the Mouth of a Furnace, Romanian-born, Toronto-based artist monica maria moraru imagines the window as both an architectural opening and the lens of a camera, a porous membrane between inside and outside. In this multimedia exhibition combining cast glass structures, scaffolding, found objects, and sound, moraru hints at the photographic project as both a delineation and transgression of boundaries.
monica maria moraru, Untitled, installation detail (dragonskin, calea zacatechichi (bitter grass), wire), An Ant in the Mouth of a Furnace, 2022. Courtesy of the artistmonica maria moraru, Untitled, installation detail (fabric print, glass), An Ant in the Mouth of a Furnace, 2022. Courtesy of the artist
The installation suggests, but does not enforce enclosure–the barriers that its materials of fencing, wires, and curtains express are more tenuous than functional. Architectural details position the work as being neither firmly inside nor outside. Walls within walls suggest framing and cropping, evoking the selective vision of a cinematic set. A narrative sound score interrupts the fragile scene, as if it were anticipating the activation of a performer—or perhaps, a subject. moraru conveys psychic space through an unfinished interior, creating a site of transmission still in progress that questions the possibility of fixed subjecthood.
monica maria moraru, Untitled, installation detail (dragonskin, calea zacatechichi (bitter grass)), An Ant in the Mouth of a Furnace, 2022. Courtesy of the artist
Working between lens-based and sculptural practices, moraru considers the entangled relationship between objects and images as articulations of internal psychic conditions. A nod to the camera obscura, the work hovers between the intimacy of the bedroom and the reverence of the cathedral.
Presented by Bunker 2 Projects. Supported by the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council
monica maria moraru is a Romanian-born visual artist based in Toronto. Her multidisciplinary practice spans photography, sculpture, video and installation. Her multimedia work approaches the intrinsic performativity of objects and images to explore the complex language of materials. Her latest film, Here It Is Saturday was shown at Trinity Square Video, and her solo show In My Bedroom Noon Is the Darkest Time of Day was presented at Xpace in partnership with Toronto Design Offsite. moraru received her BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design.
