I would like to tell a story and cleanse your timelines with the healing power of art. Allow me to introduce Mariana, a 🇺🇦 artist whom I met by chance on a cold spring day while translating at ACV when everything in Wien was a mess.🧵 instagram.com/fidomila?igshi…
On that cold morning, nothing worked. I was upset by the chaos, Mariana came in looking for a “culture pass”. She left without one (that day few Ukrainians left with anything useful), but we got chatting. She asked about my nails, I treated her to a 💅🏻. She gave me a painting.
Mariana & I followed each other. I saw her temporary residence for artists in Wien, producing beautiful art in her 1050 studio. She saw photos of my kids, Hofer cards, and holiday. She asked me for ☕️ many times, I kept apologizing for having no time, today I finally made it.
The space was light and bright and perfect. Mariana had been working hard. She proudly showed me her work, explaining she didn’t want to paint war. She wanted to paint what she felt inspired to paint. She fled Kyiv in the early days. A rental. Nothing to go home to now.
I was blown away by the colors, the spacing (there is a fancy word Mariana taught me and now I forgot!), the attention to detail. I had seen the paintings on Instagram, but it’s not the same as seeing them in the light of day, streaming through in a calm, green courtyard window.
She made me a strong coffee the old fashion way, and put out Belgium chocolates shaped like shells on a little plate. She showed me her favorite coffee pot, told me about the famous prosecco bottles from Kyiv she painted only from memory, and her 🐚.
Mariana was born in and grew up in Sevastopol, Crimea. She cannot see her parents now. When the war began, they were on steady a diet of Russian TV, assured her 🇷🇺 would only hit military targets, all while she and her 🇺🇦 friends in Kyiv were fleeing bombs as fast as they could.
She bought this large canvas at Carla for €5 and picked off the dragon puzzle. It is Sevastopol. Its famous military landmark. The oil that looks like tears on the water. The tears of wars. The dragon wings rising above, the bright future one can already see. I was mesmerized.
More Sevastopol. This is on a canvas she bought also at Carla, for pennies, painted over other colors. The angle is intentional. It should feel uncomfortable to the eye. I love water so much I thought I could dive in, despite the stormy sky. Art matching reality.
Mariana explaining to me another of her Crimean works. She lost 50% of her hearing while in Vienna. She now has two micro hearing aids. She is very grateful for them. In Kyiv, she worked as a project manager. She has fluent English and IT skills from her “day” job.
The residency will be over soon. She has to move out at the end of August. Sadly there will be no galley show nor exhibition. Mariana wonders if perhaps her work doesn’t match what potential organizers think is in fashion at the moment. I offer this virtual Twitter exhibit.
A work in process from a date with a guy she met on a local app, and a Vienna pool she swam in with friends. Mariana will crash with friends when her lease is up, continuing to learn German, pick up some items from her old Kyiv flat now in Prague, look for a job. Any job for now.
If you were touched by her work and would like to learn more, or potentially acquire any of her art, do contact Mariana directly via her Instagram DM. I would have loved to have given her a proper show with 🥂 and small talk. This will have to do. 💙💛 instagram.com/fidomila?igshi…
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