Oil on paper

23.5cm x 18.5cm

2024

(@maria.andrievskaya)

25% of all sales will be donated to The Trussell Trust

“My practice is about my constant observation of nature, and how its subtleties can symbolise the complexities of our inner world. Through sustained looking, I feel that the microscopic world of plants can reveal parallels to our states of mind. I see nature not as ornamental and passive, but as an energetic companion to our own existence, one that should be tenderly protected and acknowledged.

Within my work, the land serves as a sentient character in its own right, one that beckons us in and soothes all that exists within it. Hazes of light evoke an eternal dawn or dusk, as if the landscape is constantly on the edge of change. As part of my continuing material enquiry, I collect rocks and earth from my homeland of Cyprus to grind into handmade oil paint, infusing the canvas with the environment I am recalling. I intend for my canvases to feel vibrant and alive, as if they can continue to flourish and grow beyond its edges.

Shifting between our collective familiarity with old master techniques and the childhood motifs that informed my own lifetime, I seek to challenge the accessibility and hierarchy of visual language in art. Through painting, I am curious to find an alternative reality in response to our failure to protect that which nurtures us. I strive to evoke a sense of wonder, connection and shelter, inviting viewers to see the intricate natural world through a lens of deeper understanding and appreciation.”