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Discover / Meet the Artist
Interview with Marianna Maslova
"Art can save lives directly: I sell art and donate to humanitarian aid."
Featuring
13.03.2024
Discover / Meet the Artist
Featuring
13.03.2024
Marianna Maslova's art portrays the struggles and resilience of Ukraine during the war and showcases the strength and spirit of her people. Through her unique blend of ink and watercolour, she captures the scars of conflict alongside moments of solidarity and hope. Maslova's art reminds us that creativity can overcome adversity, inviting us to consider the indomitable spirit of humanity in the face of hardship.
Marianna Maslova's art explores the complex relationship between identity, heritage, and the transformative power of art. Growing up in different cultural landscapes - the steppe of Kazakhstan and the forests of Ukraine - her art blends Eastern traditions with Ukrainian vibrancy. Her childhood memories of Kazakh ornamentation and the discovery of Ukraine's lush surroundings have profoundly influenced her work. Despite cultural suppression and occupation, Marianna's art stands as a bold affirmation of her identity and a revival of her suppressed traditions.
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How has your upbringing and cultural background influenced your artistic journey and creative expression?
Kazakhstan, like Ukraine, was under the occupation of the Soviets. The Soviets had their own traditions - with no national culture of the region but only Russian culture cultivated everywhere. But Kazakhstan preserved its traditions with yurts, cakes, dishes and horses. I lived in the Kazakh steppe until I was 9 years old, and the rhythm of the ornaments, the different grasses of the spring steppe, and the bright colours of the decorative paintings were part of my life and childhood memories are very strong. It’s all influenced by my art mixed with Ukrainian impressions. When I entered the Ukrainian forest in 1994, it was a new world for me, I had never seen so many trees before! I have a lot of mixed blood, but I feel like a Ukrainian because I grew up and realized myself here. And now I open more and more about Ukrainian culture. Now it’s time to reinterpret culture after years and years of occupation and decline. It is always a gift and curse to have different cultures in one head. I was brought up in Kazakhstan, which means that I was greeted quietly and was not very good at talking loudly in all senses of the phrase. Maybe that's why, at the beginning of my creative activity, I followed tradition rather than my voice. But I am learning to speak loudly and directly.
From my father, I learned to read poetry and look for comets and constellations. My mother's genes taught me management and punctuality. I am grateful to my parents, sister and all relatives who helped and supported me. My grandfather on my mother's side dreamed that one of his descendants would become an artist. My father's sister taught me to hold a pen and practice using ink on postcards (the reverse side of which featured Lenin). It is interesting to explore how many connections a person has, and how it all grows into art later. Eastern and Western symbols and visions are often intertwined in my art.
Explain the allure of art in your life. Why art, among all other mediums of expression?
I see the world in images. It is often more difficult to describe something with words than with a picture. Visual art is quite easy to read and, at the same time, it is often interesting how many layers of explanation can be in one picture!
They say it all starts in childhood - I lived among books about art. My parents had a huge library with an ex-libris, which works like a real library of books, videos and music. I remember myself sitting in the living room with a big book with drawings and also - my love for art on a physical level - how the paint smells, touching the paper, feeling the volume of the lines of the print, and the smell of pencil when I draw.
Discuss how your art comments on or reflects contemporary social, political, or environmental themes. In what ways does your artwork reflect or comment on current social, political, or environmental issues? Can you give specific examples from your works?
2014 Russia attacked Crimea and part of Donbass. At that time, I thought that being a political artist meant drawing something political, that it was an engaged art. Naively. But since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, I realized that it is possible to have political views and at the same time draw anything. In general, everything I create now is about the war, because I live in Kyiv, I hear sirens and explosions, my relatives abroad, I haven't seen them for 2 years, and my friends and colleagues are on the front lines. And to be apolitical at such a time is to betray yourself and the state. I do not like the current government, but I am for the right to free choice, I am for the integrity of Ukraine. But unfortunately, international law has been violated and now it needs to be created anew, as once after World War II.
In my works, there are details of life, a kind of diary: barricades that we created with our neighbours at the beginning of the full-scale war; scaffolding that the builders made when rebuilding our house after the Russian army bombed it; these are anti-tank hedgehogs that can be seen everywhere on the streets of Kyiv.
The other side of my artwork is zero-waste processes, as I am trying to make my art more eco-friendly so to speak. This is manifested in the way I use materials, the amount and thickness of paper, a minimum of plastic. Also, when I make tracing paper masks, I then use them for new works, mostly collages.
Explore the connection between spirituality and creativity in your work.
There was a long period when I practised a lot of Tibetan Buddhism, now it is also a part of my life. I understand how the creation of pictures and the idea of art in general is far from Buddhism. I will try to explain. When you meditate (and you don't practice Buddhism in the style of "I meditated for an hour and that's all for the day) and when it really becomes a vision, then there is no motivation to create art. But it can become a conscious game when you understand that art can save lives directly: I sell art and donate to humanitarian aid.
There is no strong need to express oneself in front of others when there is no ego inside. So it is always thin ice for me to be an artist or not to be.
Share your sources of inspiration. What are your primary sources of inspiration? Do these come from personal experiences, observations, history, nature, or other artists? Can you give specific examples of how these inspirations have manifested in your work?
I’m very impressed by people all over the world who have bought my art and this way has helped me and Ukrainians since March 2022! It inspires me to create more artworks so I can sell them and help Ukrainians. And one of the biggest supporters is Great Britain - thank you to all who help!
Also, I enjoy and quench my thirst with the works of other artists. It is especially important now, it is a kind of art therapy for an artist. This is all part of the space, another expression, new experiences. I try to look at the works not as an artist, although it is not easy. Sometimes I create homages to artists that I appreciate the most, for example, Dürer and Hokusai. This is a kind of dialogue with them, citations in my works.
I am incredibly inspired by nature (steppe, forests, garden); I even made drawings for a botanical magazine about the steppe. My inspiration is also history, symbols, music - even the view from the window of the Soviet buildings.
I have a few series dedicated to the 2014 Revolution and full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022. The history of the composition began with drawings of anti-tank hedgehogs and tires. Hedgehogs as a symbol of resistance, protection, and defence (from 2014 and now in 2022-2023...). Tires as a symbol of revolution, and purification (Ukrainians used tires to make barricades and smoke during the Revolution of Dignity). These etchings became the basis for the series "Tic-tac-toe", the composition "Plus" and the big composition ''Renju'. Renju is a strategy game, since ancient times warlords played this game to be able to think strategically and win battles. In the composition "Renju" tires and anti-tank hedgehogs met in dialogue. This is not a confrontation, but a concentration of all the forces that have been holding the Ukrainians all this time. It's hard to call it inspiration when talking about wartime. And now everything I create, even if it's just a tree or flower, landscape or still life - it is all about war experience: barricades, the fog of war, my view from the window becomes a fortress.
Explain the evolution of your artistic style and your aspirations through this technique. How has your artistic style evolved? Can you describe the journey and changes in your technique? What are your aspirations for your style and technique moving forward?
My first works were ink abstractions, then I worked with oil for a long time, created copies, and even painted walls and clothes. It was time to search, I tried everything I wanted. At some point, I felt that too much energy was being spent on the search for technology, not ideas; then I left only ink and watercolour and began to study printing techniques at the Kyiv studio Atelier36.
It became a turning point in my life, I almost immediately bought an etching press. I am the same age as my etching press but we met only in 2021 and now I have a workshop right in my apartment.
I worked for quite a long time in different styles - realism, and impressionism, I also tried to create my own style in abstractionism. Now I feel that the style is just gaining its features, I don't want to stop or specifically crystallise it.
It's a process, just like learning new techniques and experimenting with new materials. I love that you can compile, combine and experiment with the author's printing techniques. And it is always an exciting moment to print and to see new results.
Can you recall a specific instance where someone's unique interpretation of your artwork provided you with a new perspective or insight?
It happens a lot with abstract artworks. But there are so many interpretations of my new artworks about wartime. I have etched "Snowflakes or Anti Tank hedgehogs in Kyiv" (it is on the Artit site). At first, for me, it was iron hedgehogs in the blue sky, but then my friend said - it is like snowflakes! And I saw it with another point, not with a war but with a peaceful mind.
Lately, I've been living like this - every day I don't know if I'll live to see the next one. It makes me more aware of what I'm doing. It seems to make you free, even though you feel your limitations (With such stress our bodies work with mistakes). Buddhist practices help a lot in this.
I listen to myself, support my family and friends, do everything and a little more to bring victory for Ukraine closer. We all do what we can. I don’t need to imagine these 24 hours - I live it daily.
Describe five steps you are taking to ensure your continual growth and development as an artist.
✧ To be aware of events, exhibitions, and contests to join, to get to know and communicate with authors who are interesting to me.
✧ Create new works, series, and ideas.
✧ Studying techniques and experiments with new materials.
✧ Consistency and rhythm of work.
✧ Management and sale of works.
Contemplate the role and responsibilities of an artist in society today. How do you perceive the role of an artist in today's society? What responsibilities, if any, do you believe artists have towards their communities or the broader public?
In peacetime, my answer would sound different, but now every Ukrainian artist's voice is a voice about Ukraine. At different levels, with different stories, we tell about what is happening to us now - with emotions or concepts, with excitement or seriousness.
Artists have an incredible influence, but it is not instantaneous, it is an influence on generations to come, it is the creation of new meanings.
This is not only the creation of aesthetics and beauty. It is a rethinking of history, decolonization and creation of a new one based on what we have forgotten or lost during the years of occupation. I know so many Ukrainian artists who in many ways help Ukrainians. We make auctions, sell our artwork and donate to volunteers and foundations. It is something concrete and real.
And also an important moment - What should artists who represent the aggressor country do? Should they openly broadcast their position? Do they have the right to protect and fence off their fellow citizens? Do they have responsibility for what is happening in their country? After all, the artist is the one who creates these meanings.
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Inspired by her heritage and nature, Marianna's art connects the past to the present. It celebrates the strength of different cultures and honours their contributions to the world. Amidst the struggle, Marianna's art provides a source of hope, resilience and togetherness. Her moving portrayals of Ukraine's fight capture the spirit of a nation determined to defend its independence. Maslova's work not only portrays human resilience but also inspires us to believe in art's transformative power in bringing about positive change and healing.
Upon exploring her artistic collection, we become observers of poignant narratives that showcase the bravery, unity, and resilience of Ukraine's people. This experience highlights the crucial impact artists have on our comprehension of the world we live in.