Raised in Vancouver, Canada, Maayan moved to New York at 15 to pursue a degree in sculpture. Following a residency at the Ratti Foundation in Como, Italy, Zilberman’s multi-media practice gave her a boundaryless approach to artmaking. Having run her own line of lingerie, The Lake & Stars, from 2007 to 2014 before returning to her studio to focus on ephemeral sculpture, Zilberman has a kaleidoscopic perspective on an artist’s role in an ever-changing industry. In founding her confectionary concept project, Sweet Saba, Zilberman used candy as a sculptural medium with a poetic lens toward consumable art objects.
Now pivoting from Sweet Saba and shifting focus to her multidisciplinary studio, she is focusing on sculptural work and planning site-specific installations based on an existing series of drawings. Below, we spoke to Zilberman about her creative practice and sources of inspiration in this burgeoning chapter of her artistic career.
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
How, as an artist, do you find new beginnings crucial to your practice? Is it intimidating or liberating? Both?
“I love a new beginning because it frees me from nostalgia or relying on existing habits, styles, or tropes within my work. I think of it as more of a new chapter because nobody is ever really starting over. You always bring your whole life to the next stage, and we’re foolish if we don't learn from mistakes and past experiences. It's liberating to know you'll be stronger than before, especially with a new medium. It's intimidating when I begin a new body of work because I know it could go in any direction. It's like life after a breakup.”
In your recent illustrative works, you often use a color palette of greens, reds, and yellow—what draws you to these colors? What do certain color combinations ignite in your imagination?
“I’ve never felt comfortable using earthy colors in my work. I feel most calm around brighter and “alien” colors, colors associated with otherness, like not “of this earth.” I was born in the desert, and the alien color palette of desert lore runs deep in my work.
“I've always used a similar color palette; it's like having the same lipstick forever. My latest drawings and watercolors are punched-up versions of my standard palette in condensed inks. Green = Other, Simulation, Life Force; Yellow = Energy, Value; Red = Ornament, Sexuality, Life; and Black = Truth, Stability, Order.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
How did you arrive at the motif of “fountains”? What motifs do you keep returning to in your art practice (across design, candy, illustration, and sculpture)?
“When I started developing my fountains, I considered them figurative works. They are bodies with insides and outsides, and they ooze a green liquid that is thicker than water or blood–their life force is alien. I have always struggled with identity regarding my homeland, where I’m from, and what it means to be native to a place. The fluid that runs through the sculptural fountain pieces never stays still, and it picks up dust and particles as it moves, like a nomadic creature that is discovering, transforming, and regenerating. With any classical or traditional motif, I like to subvert it so its beauty is questioned. It's not pretty, even if it's sexy. Sexy can be dangerous, desirable, and ambiguous.
“I'd always return to this idea when I had my lingerie line (The Lake & Stars) and my candy line (Sweet Saba). Not so much a specific motif but more a symbol of subjectivity and questioning what we think of as feminine, cute, or obvious.”
What are your creative routines? What puts you into a flow state?
“A creative routine is crucial for me after so many years of running a business where each day began with the bottom line. Focusing more on my art now, I had to shift priorities. In the morning, I walk to work, and I like to call-bomb friends or family just to chat. No agenda, just connection. Now that I work solo for the most part in my studio, I sit at my desk facing the window overlooking the East River, and I sketch for about an hour. That gets me ready to work on whatever sculpture is in process, and afterward, I love a super intense hand wash and clean up, like a surgeon post-op. It's like a ritual, and during this time, I think about what I want to work on tomorrow–this step helps me get inspired for the following day and creates a true flow state.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
You mentioned turning designer garments into clothes for your daughter. How did you start that process? How does the process of transformation and a lack of preciousness function in your practice (across all of your artistic media)?
“When I had my daughter Freddie, I got inspired to cut up the old outfits I used to wear or that had sentimental value and turn them into clothes that would hold new meaning for her. I loved the idea of cutting into old designer or vintage fabrics, waking up the spirits in the cloth, and creating looks that weren't “cute” or typical for a little girl. The process of transforming items someone else might want to archive–this lack of preciousness is key to evolving one's style, opening one's mind, and inspiring children to be free in their bodies. It's not about ornament, it's really all about giving kids a chance for self-expression.
“This same approach is a thread through a lot of my other work, where sugar or liquids are each ephemeral and change shape or disappear/ evaporate. For me, it's enough that they are here for a time—we enjoy them, they transform, and then they exist as ideas. They don't need to live in their original form forever.”
In your last collaboration, you mentioned interpreting the designs for your sugar work from a dream you had—what happened in that dream? How do you work with dreams or your subconscious to guide your artmaking practice?
“When I was eight, I dreamed that I'd buried all my beloved mixtapes in the backyard and that when I went back to dig them up, they'd all turned into candy. I had a lot of dreams back then where the material would transform or objects would metamorphosize. I've never been that fixated on the final result of a project, but more so on the process of it. I love putting something away (like a cake into an oven or a clay sculpture into a kiln) and having it return transformed. It wasn't until I started boiling sugar as an experiment about nine years ago that I remembered that childhood dream, and I think a lot of my work since then has been working through whatever was happening there and trusting something to do what it's going to do.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
What projects are you currently working on? What was the inspiration behind these works, and what are you looking forward to?
“I’m working on my series of fountains that are currently tabletop scale and will next become life-sized. I’m excited to make the fluid ooze at a rate I’m dreaming of.
“I've created a series of site-specific “Wedding Chapels” that will come to fruition in 2024. The idea was inspired by my daughter, who asks me why she and I can't get married or why she can't marry her friends. We all love each other so much and promise to forever.
“The intimate locations (with edible promise rings and a number of sculptural elements) will offer friends to commit to one another, for communities to come together and make a promise to love each other and support one another–for life. Putting romance aside, I was inspired to do something that gives people a real chance to connect. I’m really looking forward to the collaborations involved with this series.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
Photo: Courtesy of Maayan Zilberman
Rapid Fire Questions
What’s your guilty pleasure? Zoning out.
Hidden talent? I am good at writing speeches.
Irrational fear? That people in my favorite TV shows are actually living their lives in their alternate TV show universes.
Best gift you ever received? Art of Star Trek book, or anything my mom has given me... moms just know.
Best gift you’ve given? I love giving Cameo videos. Anything thoughtful and unexpected, it doesn't have to be material. People just want to feel seen.
Something you used to hate but you love now? Healthy food.
The best mistake you’ve made? Trying too hard to be commercial with my work... when it doesn't work, you end up exactly where you're supposed to be.
In a biopic about your life, who would play you? Selma Blair.
What’s your biggest flex? I've been doing my own nails since high school.
Top 5 most-used emojis? Rose, splash, spiral eyes face, lollipop, pow.
The last movie, book, or song that made you cry? I cry a lot, happy and sad tears. I sobbed through Sing Street on the plane, I listen to books on Audible in my studio, and I cried through Galit Atlas’ Emotional Inheritance. I last cried walking up a hill listening to my friend Caroline Polacek’s song ‘Sunset’.
Who is your dream collaborator? Gaetano Pesce, Miuccia Prada (duh), Sabyasachi
Best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Go where you are celebrated. Slow down.