Biography

Maria Myasnikova works in mixed-media, creating what she calls Abstract Sculptural Assemblages –

expanded paintings, using various materials, particularly object trouvé, which are related to

her daily life and are linked sentimentally to a person or an occasion. These objects become a

part of a metamorphosis where they lose their function and gain a new identity. The surface

of the Assemblages is not built by the objects with a single meaning, unlike those of

Malevich - from whom she takes great inspiration - instead, each part of the composition

exists independently and at the same time makes up a unified identity. The colour is the

primary tool to realize this transformation, and she tries to modify our immediate response to

colour. The artist is continuously inspired from Josef Albers research: “As we begin

principally with the material, colour itself, and its action and interaction as registered in our

minds, we practice first and mainly a study of ourselves”.

Each artwork is a reflection, whether it be a self-reflection of sentiments or contemplation of

certain autobiographical events. The making of an Assemblage is immediate, instantaneous,

and completely unplanned: I never sketch before creating a work; it would tamper with my

honest and raw interpretation of my reality. Every Assemblage has a double title: the

technical one, stating the name of the hue, and the second one, in brackets, illustrating a more

profound, personal meaning of each artwork. Each time I look at my Assemblages, I relive my

memories, feelings, thoughts. They are an integral part of me.

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By Laura Pieri and Pelin Zeytinci

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