Masha Baur
1984 · Germany · Munich
"My work inhabits the space where memory, emotion, and the subconscious begin to blur. It gives form to difficult inner states—to feelings that remain unresolved, thoughts that resist language, and memories that return in fragments. The female body becomes a vessel for these emotions. Inspired by the sculptural language of Ancient Greece and Rome, it appears broken, eroded, or almost vanished: at once enduring and fragile, monumental and deeply human. Tulips drift through the work in states of decay and dissolution. They carry traces of my Russian heritage, my childhood, and a past from which I am trying to separate. As they wither, they become symbols not only of loss, but of transformation—the breaking apart of what was in order to make space for what might emerge. Through these recurring forms, I seek to make the invisible felt—to confront the viewer with emotions that resist language and invite a deeply personal response."
Masha Baur (b. 1984 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia) is a German artist whose monumental works on paper navigate the liminal space between memory and the subconscious. Moving beyond traditional portraiture, Baur’s recent practice sees the human figure receding into the background—existing as a whisper or a fading memory within a non-linear timeline.
Working at scales of up to two meters, Baur combines pencil and oil stick through erasing, smudging, and brush manipulation. Her physically demanding process balances careful structure with chance and intuition.
Influenced by the emotional intensity of Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon and the gestural freedom of Cy Twombly, Baur was selected for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition in London in 2019. Her 2025–26 series marks a new phase in her practice, creating immersive, dream-like spaces where past and present converge.
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