Magda Holden

My artistic practice lies in between two worlds: the spiritual and the physical. The perception of everything being interconnected is the concept that underpins my work. By embracing materiality, vibrant colours, and organic shapes my practice focuses on combining nature with notions of spirituality through painting to create a space for an otherworldly process of soul-searching and meaning. My paintings trace connections between nature’s micro and macro world which result in imaginary landscapes. By working in layers to imbue a sense of depth and form my paintings crossover from physicality of nature and materiality to an otherworldly and spiritual reality. My scientific interests come through collecting, observing, and analysing the world around me by means of photography, tracing methods, and microscopes. Spiritual knowledge, accumulated through my Christian faith, stories, and keen attention to dreamworld, manifests itself in a dialogue between an intuitive use of my materials and my imagination.  In exploring materiality of paper, wood, and canvas, my art merges various materials such as ink, watercolour, acrylic, oil, pastel, raw pigments, seeds, leaves, twigs, fibres, rain, or soil, and techniques decalcomania, ink pouring, pulp painting, or print making. The subject and the composition of my painting gradually develop in an intuitive way as I immerse myself in the process and action of making until sublime, dreamlike situations are fully explored and resolved. Threads, fibres, and lines are often present in my work to link, bind, and unify. There are touches of gold, silver, and glitter to evoke memories of hope, longing, and light. In concept, my ideas resemble ecology, for they deal with aspects of entwine interconnections of life; or, indigenous mapping, for my paintings trace cosmology of life based on holistic knowledge that focuses on stories of ever-changing landscapes.