Flying Without a Navigator: Marianna Baker's Fiber Art Journey to Planet Drion
- artandcakela
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
By Kristine Schomaker
There's something deeply satisfying about watching someone embrace chaos with complete confidence. Marianna Baker does exactly this with her upcoming exhibition "I Am Flying the UFO Without a Navigator," opening June 21st at TAG Gallery on Wilshire Boulevard.
Baker's journey to this moment makes perfect sense in retrospect—and no sense at all, which is exactly the point. A former graphic designer who spent years in the entertainment industry, she made the leap into fiber art with the same fearless energy that now defines her textile sculptures. "The art world is highly competitive. My previous profession as a graphic designer was also very competitive. I am used to it. I just go ahead, no matter what."
The title alone makes you lean in—it's the kind of phrase that sounds like it emerged from a fever dream or a particularly honest moment of self-reflection. "The name 'I am flying the UFO without a navigator' seems like perfect name for my narratives," Baker explains, and honestly, isn't that all of us most of the time?
Baker specializes in needle-felting on natural linen and cashmere, but her practice has evolved far beyond traditional boundaries. Her pieces climb walls, hang from ceilings, sprawl across floors—multi-dimensional sculptures that refuse to stay put. Wire becomes an unexpected collaborator, helping her create abstract forms that honor what she calls "feminine traditions and the often-overlooked narratives of historical art."
She's spent the past year creating what she calls "a wild, tactile journey to Planet Drion—a world of absurd ambition and delightful confusion." Through experimental embroidery, felt, and ceramics (sometimes combined, because why choose?), she's crafted stories about "a civilization trying to make their planet great again… with absolutely no idea how." The political undertones aren't subtle, and they're not meant to be.
"First and foremost, I want my viewers to enjoy themselves," Baker says, "but I also want to gently remind them about the dark reality we are currently facing." It's this balance—joy and awareness, play and purpose—that makes her work feel urgent rather than heavy. Her advocacy for environmental justice and feminism isn't separate from her art; it's woven directly into the fabric.
Her process is beautifully scattered: yarn, embroidery threads, clay, and wire become the building blocks for ideas that shift and evolve as she works. "I will have a kind of outline of the idea, and in the process, it may evolve into something unexpected. I always keep an open mind when it comes to each project." This openness extends to her materials—she's currently learning tufting for her next project because learning never stops.
The anxiety hits at the beginning of every piece, she admits. But then comes the magic: "After all the successes in life, sometimes it is a series of happy accidents." This acceptance of uncertainty, of flying without a navigator, becomes the work's central metaphor.
What excites her most for viewers to discover? "Embroidery." Not just any embroidery—what she calls "creative embroidery and unexpected contemporary shapes." Her fusion of felting, weaving, and crochet challenges the tired craft-versus-art debate head-on. When asked what question she hopes her work raises for viewers, Baker's response is perfect: "Do I want to have it in my house? Fiber Art is fun! And this one is art, not a craft."
When asked what she'd say to one of her pieces if she could have a conversation with it, Baker's answer is devastatingly simple: "Are you happy?" It's the question underneath all the chaos, all the ambition, all the trying to make things great again without knowing how.
If you could only see one piece, Baker recommends "Untold Stories"—"It's a very personal matter for me." But she's fond of all of them, which tracks for someone who's spent a year nurturing these textile narratives into existence, inspired by her travels and "arty movies."
The compliment that's stuck with her about this work? "Very fun and contemporary." Sometimes the best art gives us permission to find joy in the middle of everything falling apart.
Baker's got big things ahead—she's part of "Fabulas Fiber" at Oceanside Museum of Art, curated by Kate Stern, and a show at Soka University. "More installation work" is on the horizon. But for now, she's flying her UFO wherever it wants to go, and we're lucky enough to witness the journey.
"I Am Flying the UFO Without a Navigator" opens June 21, 2025, 5-8 PM at TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd, LA. Follow Marianna Baker @mbfiberandclay or visit mbfiberandclay.com
