Myka Baum
Degree: MA Print
University: Royal College of Art
Graduation Year: 2017
New Blood Art Commentary
See inside the studio
See artwork in-situ
Baum makes fresh and invigorating connections with an increasingly ignored nature. The young artist was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2009, where the judges included Ellen Gallagher, Saskia Olde Wolbers, John Stezaker and Wolfgang Tillmans, who reviewed over 10,000 slides and hundreds of videos to bring together the showcase of contemporary talent. Baum’s ‘Lunar Mare’ series received high praise from Wolfgang Tillmans himself: "It’s a very specific vision-it’s definitely something I have never seen before and it is an achievement."
Furthermore, Myka’s work followed on to be selected for long-term display at Arts Council England alongside only 9 other recent New Contemporaries.
Artist Statement
I’m a visual artist working predominantly in experimental photography. I use cameraless and lens based methods, both ancient and modern, such as Cyanotypes, Lumen Prints, Analogue and Digital Photography and work in collaboration with the organisms that are the subject of my study. I juxtapose my work with found or made sculptural objects.
My practice is concerned with the fragility of nature and how we have become so disconnected from it. I’m fascinated by the transformative processes found in nature such as growth and decay, and the ability of organisms such as earthworms, fungi and bacteria to transform the environment.
My work is largely informed by my deep engagement with and close observation of nature: ’feeling my way intellectually into the inner heart of a thing to locate what is unique and inexpressible in it’ (Henri Bergson). To that end I work in assistance with the organisms that are the subject of study. I have, for example, corroded film under compost, recorded microbiology of living and rotting matter onto film, planted crops into and through photographic prints, traced the action of earthworms onto light sensitive paper and have screen-printed with ink made from their excrements. These transformative production processes allow me to create a deep connection with the natural world and examine at which point nature becomes an image.
My recent work has been investigating the fermentation process of Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY), recently popularised by the trend for Kombucha. I have used this process to grow material to be used as a photographic surface. Reflection on the meaning of symbiosis led me to deliberately manipulate the balance of the cultures to create distortion and texture mirroring the increasing imbalances within the fabric of society and our ecosystem.
Key sources of inspiration have been Susan Derges, Ackroyd & Harvey, herman de vries [sic] and Andy Goldsworthy as well as writers and thinkers such as Darwin, Goethe, Robert Macfarlane and Merlin Sheldrake to name just a few.
I have been collaborating with The Sustainable Darkroom movement and have contributed to researching more sustainable ways of working.
In 2022 Brexit saw me relocate to Münster, Germany, after thirty years in London. I am now working from both locations.
Group Exhibitions
(2021) Nature’s Mysterious Networks: Mushrooms, Mycelia and Yeast, GroundWork Gallery, King's Lynn