Mariia Mytryk: “I never think of the result in advance - my heart always tells me the right way.”
2017
Portraits, still lifes, landscapes, but mostly flowers – that’s what a very cosy studio of the member of the Union of Artists of Ukraine Mariia Mytryk looks like. Flowers are at every step: in numerous pots, ikebana and dried compositions.
They are in almost every work, moreover today the artist herself is clothed in a flowered dress. Her long creative path started from the very flower image. And, it is still her unchanging love.
– Mrs. Mariia, you have a very spacious, beautiful and large studio. Where did you get it from and how did you start working here? Do you spend much time here?
– I inherited this studio from my husband. It seems that it was built in the 80s. I remember very well the time when my husband started going there, because we, two artists, were cramped in one kitchen. And now, I cannot work at home. I feel myself very constrained there. To paint here in the studio-quite another thing. Everything that surrounds me creates a special creative atmosphere. Only here I forget about everything in the world and plunge into the process of creating something new. Important are only pleasant music and passion for the subject I depict. At such moments, time passes imperceptibly and very fast.
– It is obvious that you enjoy painting flowers most of all. What are your favourite flowers and where do you take their images: from life, photography or memory?
– Flowers are my passion. Mostly I like wild flowers. I like to paint them from nature. Thus, the works are so fresh and alive. Sometimes I am inspired by photographs of flowers. For example, here is lavender, which I painted from memory. There is something special in the dried compositions. When there are no fresh flowers, I like to write just like that. By the way, I remember my first job – mother-in-law's tongue flower on the window sill. It is a pity that it was not preserved.
– You told about your first picture, then how did you start painting? How did you look for yourself and did you experiment with styles, genres?
– My husband – Mykhailo Mytryk suggested that I try myself as an artist. I was about forty years old. By that time, I had never painted, although in my childhood I was extremely fond of this profession. And, he brought a canvas, paints, brushes, and in the evening came to see what I manage to do. He always told me where to move, praised and inspired me. I cannot even imagine what I would achieve without his support and help. The hard work and objective criticism gave faith in myself and my chosen path, and eventually it gave the results. In the early 90s there was a crazy demand for paintings. It happened that 2-3 works were bought per one week. But, after that I went in bad times: my husband died. I was left alone with my children, whom I had to take care of, to teach. I began to take on different orders: portraits, still lifes, landscapes and sacred compositions. When children grew up and got education, I had more time and opportunities for creativity.
– Did the children, grown up in the family of artists, go your way?
– No, none of them paint, but they always support me. It was thanks to them that I organized the last exhibition. They insisted very much that I make holiday for myself, shared my creativity and have some fun in the circle of friends and art lovers.
– It was time when you were inspired by your husband, are you inspired by his works now? Do you exhibit them?
– My husband and I were very different and created differently. He was a very emotional man and it was seen in each of his work. This is obvious at once, because all his canvases are alive. Once I did an experiment and re-painted one of his works. The picture looked like the original, but not at all. It had a different character, which was very evident.
Regarding the exhibitions of Mykhailo's works, at first I organized two or three solo exhibitions of his works. But now, our children inherited them, so they decide what to do with the pictures.
– How do you treat contemporary art?
– It definitely has the right to life. Once I myself tried to paint like that. But, in my heart I'm a mathematician – I like specificity and do not change my habits. I adore to write with oil paints in warm tones, I have my own recognizable style, developed over the years. I never think of the result in advance - my heart always tells me the right way.
Text: Olena Onda, Nataliia Petervari
Photo: Nataliia Pavlyk