Baba Yaga is often represented as little, ugly woman, with a huge distorted nose and long teeth. She lives deep in the forest and flies around on her broom. A witch who kidnaps children and eats them. Isn’t that the kind of story that would scare children?
Many people seem to wonder. Did Slavic families scare their children with the stories of Baba Yaga? The answer is yes ! They did, and Marta experienced it herself.
For her, as a 10-year-old girl, the summer vacation spent in grandmother's old house was wonderful and cruel at the same time.
Sentences like :
"If You Behave Badly, Baba Yaga Will Pick You Up"
"If You Continue to Make A Mess, Baba Yaga Will Eat You"
"Don’t Go Too Far from Home or Baba Yaga Will Catch You"
what her grandmother used to discipline her,
But for Marta as small child they were big. Her imagination was huge from an early age so Baba Yaga in her eyes was a worse creature on the world and forest was a place where she was scare to go..
Now, as an adult woman and all fears are gone Marta finds the slavic stories interesting and she loves forest. Recreating a small part of her world and the world of Baba Yaga was a pleasure and a lot of fun for her !
Marta Tuminska is an artist lives in Eindhoven. Her art is mostly based on people, their feelings, emotions and thoughts. For her, figurative art is best way to express what is happening inside of us, to show our deepest demons and desires. She is mostly working with acrylic paint and charcoal.