Mariia Matiienko

Mariia Matiienko is a contemporary artist known for her meditative ballpoint pen drawings on large-scale, hand-taped sheets of office paper.

Mariia Matiienko’s works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions and projects, as well as in several solo shows. Her works are held in private collections in Ukraine and abroad.

The artist was born in 1980 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2003, she graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (NAOMA), where she studied at the Faculty of Architecture.

In 2007–2008, she completed an internship in Germany and Switzerland, focusing on contemporary abstract painting and organic design.

In 2013, Mariia Matiienko’s works were included in a group exhibition at Venezia Gallery di Giorgio Ghidoli in Venice. Since 2015, the artist has regularly participated in the A4 project at the Karas Gallery in Kyiv.

Since 2017, she has been a regular participant in group exhibitions and happenings at the "Ukrmakrovsesvit" gallery in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Since 2021, she has regularly taken part in group exhibitions and projects organized by the Kyiv Institute of Automation in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Starting in 2023, Mariia Matiienko has been a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

Her works have been exhibited both in Ukraine and abroad. Recent exhibitions include "SYKONII" at Imagine Point, Kyiv (2025), "The Art of Living" at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv (2025), "UKRAINISCHES KUNSTTAGEBUCH: from the past to the future" at HALLE Alte Feuerwache, Cologne (2025), "Between War and Nostalgia: A Ukrainian Trajectory" at ReflectSpace Gallery in Los Angeles (2024), among many others.

Mariia Matiienko's works are part of private collections in Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.

The artist currently lives and works in Kyiv.

The artist’s body of work includes drawings made with ballpoint pens on paper. All her pieces are created using ballpoint pens on A4 office paper, taped together to form sheets measuring 180 × 127 cm.

Among Mariia Matiienko’s original drawings digitized by UFDA are "Good Mood" (2020), "Absolute Output" (2021), "Camera Obscura" (2022), "Breathe In" (2023), "Area of Cooperation" (2023), "The Yellow House. Treatment with Bromine" (2024), and many others. These and other Mariia Matiienko's works for sale are available at auction on the UFDA website.

At first glance, the artist uses the simplest materials — a ballpoint pen and sheets of office paper taped together to form larger surfaces. Yet these modest elements create a powerful psychological effect. As countless small strokes merge into a complete image, they generate a delicate tension between seeing and understanding, confronting the viewer with a subtle illusion of reality.

As the artist herself explained to M17, by choosing pens and paper, she sought to avoid the pathos of traditional artistic materials. Moreover, she consciously chose a working method that requires time and patience. This allows Mariia to think, to delve deeply, and to fully experience what she is creating and living through in the process.

Mariia Matiienko creates calm yet immersive reflections on cycles and repetition. Each line captures a moment that lasts forever, impossible to erase or alter. The taped sheets of office paper serve both as a canvas and as a record - a reminder of the everyday life we once saw as stable.

In her practice, the process is as important as the result, making each work feel open-ended and never truly complete.