Maria began creating small sketches on cigarette filters for her large series “Filters” on October 8, 2022, completing it on November 8 of the same year. The works are executed in various techniques, such as dry pastel, drypoint, collage, and soft ground.

From the author’s concept:
“Kharkiv-Kyiv, 2022, autumn.
In Vanya’s kitchen, I was handed a bundle of cigarette filters with the question ‘do you need these?’ Although I don’t smoke, I replied ‘of course!’ This presented me with an unusual working surface. It became a challenge for me from various perspectives. Previously, I felt uncomfortable with sketchbooks in public places and never completed a single journal until this small bundle.

At that time, I had another trip planned to Ternopil, and I decided not to let go of the filters for a month and take them everywhere with me, which was easy since the sketchbook could fit into a pencil case. I created abstractions based on my impressions and landscapes. This is how my first completed journal was born, depicting every moment of the journey.

I started the series ‘Filters’ on October 8, 2022, in Kyiv, continued in Kharkiv and Ternopil, and finished it on November 8, 2022, once again in my hometown of Kharkiv.

Everyone’s perception is a filter that we usually do not control; it consists of our own and others’ views, memories, beliefs, and ideals. All of this refracts and distorts what we see. To cleanse and reconsider my perspective, for a month, I looked at everything around me through a small viewfinder—a paper filter for roll-your-own cigarettes that I came across by chance.

Through this development, the process of rethinking small quick abstractions into the ‘Filters’ project took place. The exhibition presents three stages of filtering: perception in the moment, considered analysis, and selection of ideas.”

Instagram: @ma.richka.kh