Maria Kiriakov

Maria’s work explores themes of personal and cultural nostalgia. She aims to preserve cultural traditions by translating the past to the present. She views her projects as magical retrospectives that invite us to remember the past as we look for solutions to today’s problems.

Each work springs from a deeply emotional place, where her history dances with her imagination, and realism and metaphysics can play. For inspiration, she turns to memories of her childhood and adolescence, spent in various European countries. She also draws upon humanity’s collective memory in the form of the world’s historical masterpieces, which she holds in juxtaposition to modern life and the mood of her subjects.

Her technique is varied and expressive; her colors are bright and saturated. Maria’s style and approach are influenced by Byzantine traditions, Eastern Orthodox iconography and frescoes, the Early Renaissance, and the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. She makes her own signature frames for each work, which she paints or gilds, transforming them into part of the painting itself.

Whether a contemporary portrait, landscape, or still life, Maria’s work contains a multitude of poetic gestures and historical references that give her subjects a resonance and relevance.