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ARTIST STATEMENT
WHAT’S THE MATTER
A exhibition by Daria Baluta
Daria is one of the ten winners of the 2025 WORLDART10 competition, an initiative established by WORLDART to identify and support promising emerging artists. This exhibition marks an important milestone, introducing a new body of work centred on her distinctive use of epoxy resin and pigment.
While resin has become a popular material in design and craft practices, very few contemporary painters have adopted it as a primary fine art medium. Daria has developed a technique in which layers of resin and colour interact to produce luminous, glass-like surfaces that appear to shift with changing light and perspective. Through this process, the works achieve an unusual sense of depth.
Pigment flows and merges beneath translucent layers, creating compositions in which colour, reflection, and movement become central elements of the image. The material itself plays an active role in the final outcome, allowing chance and fluidity to shape the work alongside the artist’s intention.
The exhibition title, What’s the Matter, reflects Daria’s interest in both the physical properties of her medium and the inner processes of thought and emotion. The layered structure of the works echoes the idea of transformation—how materials, like the mind, can evolve and take on new forms over time.
Born in Russia, Daria moved to South Africa in 2008, where she began refining her painting practice. Her work often draws inspiration from natural phenomena such as clouds, water, and light, resulting in images that balance abstraction with emotional presence.
As a WORLDART10 winner, Daria represents a new generation of artists being introduced to collectors through the programme. Her debut solo exhibition signals the next step in what is shaping up to be a compelling artistic trajectory.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
DARIA BALUTA (b. 1985) is a Russian-born artist based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Her practice centres on the use of pigmented epoxy resin layered onto an acrylic base. Through this process, she builds surfaces in which colour and light interact in subtle, shifting ways. The resin creates a distinctive depth and gloss, allowing light to move through the work and change its appearance depending on the viewer’s position.
Daria’s approach is guided as much by control as by chance. The fluid nature of the material introduces elements of unpredictability, with colours blending and settling in ways that cannot be fully predetermined. This balance between intention and spontaneity is central to her work.
A recurring idea in her practice is the brain’s ability to adapt and form new pathways—often referred to as neuroplasticity. The layered structure of her work reflects this process: each layer builds on what came before, suggesting gradual change, adjustment, and the possibility of transformation over time.
Daria began developing her practice after relocating to South Africa, and her work continues to evolve through an ongoing engagement with both painting and material experimentation.
