Meet Maria Theresa Barbist, a resident artist whose practice serves as an ongoing exploration of our inner worlds. Deeply influenced by her background in art therapy, Maria Theresa works to translate traumatic memories and emotional states into large-scale paintings, performative actions, moving pictures, written material and sculptural objects.

A collection of Maria Theresa’s most recent work of documenting mail boxes across South Florida has led to the creation of an art book that is currently on view at Miami Dade Public Library’s Main Library in Downtown as part of WOPHA Congress, an international women’s photography conference, exhibition series, and creative convening held here in Miami.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see Maria Theresa’s work at the Library! 💫

—

Can you tell us about your artistic practice?

My practice is deeply influenced by my background in art therapy, which is when I first began making art. I studied at the Tamalpa Institute for Expressive Art Therapy and, in my time there, we used dance, drawing, and writing as tools to express our inner worlds and created performances based on that material. I continue to follow this approach by creating large-scale paintings that I then translate back into movement, resulting in performances for video or 16mm film.

Tell us about a personal artistic project or body of work that you are currently excited about.

I'm currently working on a performance film based on a series of large-scale paintings, titled Trauerarbeit, the German word for "grief work." I shot the performance on 16mm film, using a double exposure technique where my body seems to disappear within the lines, becoming part of the painting itself. I'm looking forward to sharing this project in an upcoming exhibition – stay tuned via my Instagram (@mariabarbist) or my website, linked here.

Tell us about how you have developed as an artist since you began working at Bakehouse.

I joined the Bakehouse fresh out of art school, having just completed my MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and after having moved to Miami in 2014. Over the past decade, I’ve experienced tremendous growth, both personally and artistically. I've had many exhibition opportunities, but being part of the Bakehouse community was especially important in helping me come out of my shell. I've collaborated with various Bakehouse artists on projects, such as RCS: Rocking Chair Sessions, a series of audio interviews with local artists, by local artists– RCS is currently available for listening on SoundCloud. Overall, it’s been a wild and rewarding journey.