Image above: Gentlewoman – antique sewing table, pin cushion doll, linen thread, gold, diamonds (2017)

Above top row; All details of Gentlewoman – antique sewing table, pin cushion doll, linen thread, gold, diamonds (2017). Middle row L-R; Pin Cushion – used pin cushion, gold (2010) (commission available); Studio view; Self-Portraits (private collection) – originally for a solo show at Marsden Woo in 2011, completed in 2015. Bottom row L-R; For the Birds – Floral Study from Theodota Kirmakidou (2011–present), used ornament, silver, gold (2020); Tool Box – used gemstone setting tools, silver, gold (2008); Forks & Charms – used forks, charms, silver, gold (2015)

As an artist, Maria Militsi restores and reanimates useless things; this so-called refuse is her material. Whether the lustred shells of molluscs, gold baptismal jewellery, porcelain figurines, or other trinkets, Maria elevates others’ trash into treasure; she values the excessive quality of objects, their infinite and cosmic potential, as much as she does their relationship to us.

The incidental discovery of something damaged – whether driftwood from the Thames foreshore (Skipper, 2016), a found crucifix (Self-Portraits, 2011), or missing jigsaw piece (Blue Boy, 2008) – motivates a loving act of restoration. Maria is undoubtedly a skilled jeweller, but she also works diligently as a restorer and alchemist. With careful fingers, she remodels the broken skull of a porcelain dog in precious silver (Sandy the Dog, 2011), whose mended crown then becomes a pendant; and revives a series of tattered pin-cushion dolls with an armoury of gold pins…Through her, things are reborn.

Yet this time round, these things wash up in another (virtual) space: her Instagram feed. Since the start of this project, Maria has been using the hashtag #_carpetcity_by_appointment_only to house her work online. When the invitation came to dwell among these digital threads, I was curious to understand Maria’s patterning of things, how she constellates these fragmented materials, and what this digital archive holds.

Extracts from Voicing the Work by Kimberley Chandler

Download the full text here (pdf)

Image above: A 6 Feet 4 Male Necklace – used toy shoes, pearls, gold (2018)

Above top row; Happy Earring – used single earring, gold, diamonds (2015); A 6 Feet 4 Male Necklace – used toy shoes, pearls, gold (2018); Ladle – used ladle, gold earrings (2010). Middle row L-R; Metal detecting finds and Spanners – metal detecting finds, gold, silver (2008-present); Thimble – metal detecting find, silver, gold (2010); This Is Not A Pipe Case – used pipe case, silver (2005). Bottom row L-R; Bulldog Clipped – paper clip, gold (2019); I Am Nervous (from The unmentionable and Incidental series) – used pendant (2021); Skipper – driftwood, antique components (ball bearings), rope (2016)

With Carpet City – By Appointment Only, Maria has assembled a puzzle of interacting pieces, continually shuffling them to create new juxtapositions, all within the space of her studio. This response to her material is both intuitive and practical. Living in the same space encourages a heightened perception of what these objects might suggest, or prompt her into doing. The studio becomes a stage, her objects, the performers. It follows, then, that Maria is the stagehand.

This fits with how Maria describes her working process. These things find her, and often in quite remarkable ways. It’s as if they’ve abandoned themselves to these new encounters. And in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which we’ve been forced to relate to our spaces in more intimate and creative ways, this puzzling-out feels all the more prescient. Our things are a measure of who we are, what we choose to surround ourselves with. They are a reassurance, a confrontation, things that help us to dream. Carpet City – By Appointment Only is a place for this retrospecting, for “falling through the surface [of things]” to imagine their past lives,[1] but also for prospecting, for seeing things anew, for thoughts, ideas, and possibilities.

[1] Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things (London: Penguin Books, 2012), Chapter One.

Extracts from Voicing the Work by Kimberley Chandler

Download the full text here (pdf)

View Maria Militsi's Instagram feed

For more information or details about any of the featured artworks please contact Tatjana Marsden or Siobhan Feeney: info@marsdenwoo.com

View Maria Militsi's Marsden Woo artist profile