Artist Spotlight: Maria Langu
Emerging sculptor Maria Langu belongs to a young generation of Romanian sculptors & painters for whom form, texture, and psychological presence are inseparable. A graduate of the National University of Arts Bucharest (UNArte), Langu entered the sculpture department as one of the few students without a formal background in the arts — and, tellingly, one of the very few who hadn’t previously sculpted at all.
She nonetheless ranked near the top of her class, later pursuing a Master’s degree whose dissertation, tackling the human body, explores the body as both matter and language: “Each person is different. The body is substance — and it expresses the mind.”
For Langu, the material is never just technical; it comes from emotion itself. “If I feel anxiety,” she says, “I reach for something fragile, like plaster. If want to portray calm or strength, I use metal — something shining and unyielding.”
Her approach is intuitive and experimental, oscillating between mediums: sculpture, painting, and drawing all exist as fluid stages of her expression.
Image Courtesy: Maria Langu
Opera’s Lead Advisor Virgil Munteanu met Maria Langu to discuss her formation, practice, and perspective on the state of contemporary art in Romania.
Virgil Munteanu: : You’ve just completed your undergraduate studies at UNArte, now venturing into your second year of your Master’s. Congratulations! How would you describe your academic journey — and how has it influenced your direction as an artist?
Maria Langu: I was actually the only one in my generation who didn’t come from an art high school. I didn’t do sculpture before the university at all. I entered second or third from about twenty candidates. It was a shock at first — everyone else already knew what they were doing — but in a way, that helped me. I didn’t have a “fixed hand” yet.
I am now working on my dissertation work; it will address the human body and its emotional & physical states. It’s all about how the body expresses the mind — how stress, emotion, or anxiety transform matter itself. For example, when I want to put forward anxiety, I choose fragile materials like plaster; when I want to portray strength, I use metal, something bright and lasting.
Maria Langu, POST DAD, Epoxy resin, 143 x 168 x 74 cm.
Image Courtesy: Maria Langu
VM: One of your sculptures, ‘POST DAD’ [pictured above] has drawn attention for its tension & dynamic between vulnerability and strength. How did that piece come to be?
ML: It came from this awareness that we degrade in time — that we’re devoured by time and anxiety, that our hands begin to “hang” behind us. It’s about how life’s chronology folds into itself, how everything future already carries the past.
The title also came naturally, but people sometimes associate it with something sexual — even “post-sexual” or something like that. I was actually surprised by that association! For me, it was more about post-intimacy, post-authority, or, if one were to venture, what remains of the idea of the “father” — emotional, symbolic, even spiritual.
My works evolve with me, POST DAD most of all. I like to revisit them, remake them, let them change. I want to keep the work alive. My work grows with me — it’s something I understood after DIPLOMA. Back then, I was more stubborn, more controlling. Now, I’m more decided — but also more open.
VM: How do you usually choose your materials? Do you begin with an idea, or with a substance that attracts you?
ML: Usually it’s the material. If I see something that catches my eye, I need to test it. Since I was little, I was fascinated by materials — there was an old painter who worked on the frescoes in my village’s church and I’d watch him for hours. That patience, that idea that if you make a mistake you simply start over — that stayed with me.
VM: There’s a strong sense of corporeality in your work. What does the body represent to you — subject, object, or instrument?
ML: All of them at once. The body is where emotion becomes visible. It’s a substance that records time, fragility, and endurance.
Maria Langu, ‘Détachement’, oil on canvas, 50 × 70 cm. Image Courtesy: Maria Langu
VM: Your practice also seems deeply connected to memory and the domestic — your grandmother, rural textures, folklore.
ML: Yes, a lot comes from my childhood. My grandparents had this mulberry tree in the yard; it was like the family tree, literally. Kind of “Moromeții”-style [author, Marin Preda]. I grew up looking at the carpets on the wall, too — the bright colors almost burned into my mind. My grandmother taught me determination: to try again, to insist until you get it right.
Those visual memories come back in my works, even in the colors of the patina or the weight of a form. I also loved old Hungarian folktales on TV, their drawings — I think that’s where my fascination with the “fantastical” started.
“My grandmother taught me determination: to try again, to insist until you get it right.”
Maria Langu, ‘Crina’, oil on canvas, 50 x 70 cm
Private collection
Image Courtesy: Maria Langu
VM: You’ve mentioned that after POST DAD you became more introspective. What do you think about the current generation of young artists in Bucharest?
ML: We’re all around the same age, reading from the same page, but we express ourselves so differently – and that’s a good thing. Many people also hold back ideas because they’re afraid they won’t be “understood” or won’t catch attention. That fear keeps us from experimenting, in my view.
As for me, I sometimes I feel like an an old bookshoop or an antique store [laughs] — I like old things, I remodel door handles at home with a 3D printer! Again, it’s the openness I want to channel for myself these days: that’s how I recharge.
VM: Do you think there are enough opportunities for emerging artists right now — residencies, galleries, institutional support?
ML: It’s complicated. I always say, “You sell artists, not groceries.” People sometimes forget that. A gallerist doesn’t just sell a product; they build a relationship. And many gallerists here prefer to see how you manage over time before committing to anything. So yes, dramatic works get more attention — but that’s not always the kind of attention you want.
VM: For your very young age, you’ve worked with significant artists and mentors– among them, Ștefan Călția and Daniel Rădulescu. What did those experiences teach you?
ML: Those were my real schools. Working in the studio of Ştefan Câlţia, for example, was very formative. His kind wife once told me, “It’s one thing when the rain waters a flower, and another when you do it yourself every day.” That stayed with me.
I helped her cast a chandelier for a church — I had never done that before. There’s something universal in those moments; I think faith, in my case, works subconsciously. I’ve since worked on two more projects related to churches in Călărași and Câmpina. I like that connection between nature, light, and spirit.
VM: What’s next for you?
ML: My Master’s project continues — I want to make a piece that “comes out of painting,” that literally escapes the frame. I keep thinking about materials: glue or no glue, metal or canvas. The deadlin is next year. Sometimes, the whole concept of “grading art” seems quite strange to me. I like to joke: “What exactly are you grading me on?”
I’m also working on a new sculpture adapting [Constantin] Brâncuși’s “Maiastra” into the figure of a horse [unpictured] — something that I might include in my next exhibition. Ultimately, I want to keep evolving, maybe collaborate with galleries, maybe work independently — it all depends on the opportunities, and on how I feel at that moment.
VM: What would a platform like Opera mean for you — one that supports young artists and connects them to international collectors?
ML: Exposure and visibility are crucial at this point in my life as an artist. I like that Opera promotes variety — established and emerging creatives alike. As for me, I want my works to be alive, at the end of the day — to grow, change, and stay curious, just like I do. Any association that promotes this “aliveness” that, after all, we all seek in art, is doing a good job, in my view.
Those wishing to engage further with Maria Langu’s practice or discover available works are invited to reach out to info@operaadvisory.com.
We remain committed to connecting collectors, curators, and institutions with the emerging voices shaping the new Romanian Contemporary.