*“There we are—us, and yet somehow not us. Larger than life, taking up space, filling the screen like strangers. Isn’t it funny, really, to see ourselves like this, as if we were someone else looking back? Maybe we are big, or maybe, like Norma said, it’s the picture that got small. Because we see her up there, sparkling like Neely, eyes wide with that anxious, hungry glimmer. But there’s something broken in those eyes, something only we would know. A voice whispering, like Blanche, leaning on strangers, or hoping they’ll lean in to listen. Are we asking for too much, or just enough?”

“People tell us, ‘Oh, don’t ask for the moon. Take the stars and go quietly.’ But why should we settle for stars when there’s a whole sky, a whole universe to claim? The woman on the screen stares back as if daring us, like Margo, telling us to fasten our seatbelts, to brace for the night ahead. We can feel her insistence, her defiance. But we wonder, would she recognize us now, the real versions of her? The ones who have spent years trying to dance the line, sometimes hiding, sometimes wishing to be seen. And sometimes, even the screen isn’t big enough to hold what we are.”

“She’s there, sparkling and polished, all the right angles and clever lines, but we wonder if the woman on the screen knows that sometimes we’re tired of playing the role, tired of what the world wants to see. Like Frances once said, they’ll take our minds if we let them. And so we hold on to her, to ourselves, wondering, what if she breaks free? What if we do? Will we be the girls who needed kindness, or the women who know how to demand it?”

“Maybe it’s all a show, but we want to know if she’s real. That woman, that bold, fearless vision of ourselves staring back at us. We want to tell her, ‘You don’t have to sparkle all the time. You don’t have to be the center of every frame.’ Because this life, this light, it’s ours to keep. They can keep their pictures, their close-ups. We want to belong to ourselves.”*



Maria Guta is a visual artist based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Guta’s work examines the construction, representation, and promotion of the "self" in online spaces, investigating how these processes have evolved alongside technological advancements. Fascinated by the impact of celebrity culture and the influence of social networks, she explores how our digital personas are crafted as strategic forms of public identity.Through video, performance, and new media, she reenacts these dynamics, often placing herself both in front of and behind the camera. She is also particularly interested in how media—especially American cinema and television— works its "I put a spell on you" magic on audiences, shaping societal behaviors while keeping stereotypes about women alive and well. Viewing American culture as a significant form of soft power, she reflects on and researches its profound impact on societal norms and perceptions over the past decades, diving into how these portrayals resonate in our everyday lives.Her work has been shown, among others, at the Centre Culturel Suisse de Paris (FR), Istituto Svizzero - Roma (IT), Sundance Film Festival - New Frontier, Park City (US), Locarno Film Festival (CH), GIFF - Geneva Film Festival (CH), Swissnex San Francisco (US), Gessnerallee Zürich, HeK Basel (CH), MU Hybrid Arthouse Eindhoven (NL), CAN - Centre d'art de Neuchâtel (CH), MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (RO), CAC Genève, MBAL - Le Locle (CH), Transmediale, Berlin (DE), Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (CH), Superdakota - Bruxelles (BE), and Three Shadows Photography Center, Xiamen (CN).Between 2020 and 2024, she has regularly collaborated with Geneva-based artist Lauren Huret. In 2020, she received a PAX Art Award, and in 2023, she and Lauren Huret won one of the Swiss Art Awards.

The exhibition is supported by Philaneo Stiftung.