Iryna Maksymova (b.1991, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian figurative artist who works primarily with painting and collaged textiles. Her work draws on the early twentieth-century Ukrainian avant-garde, particularly Neo-Primitivism and builds a visual language rooted in the folklore and “naïve” narratives of self-taught and folk painters.

Silueta unfolds an intimate visual language in which body, myth and landscape are deeply intertwined. Her work moves between vulnerability and strength, care and threat and reflects on how we relate to ourselves, to others and to the world around us.

Maksymova’s paintings embrace the body as both personal and collective history. What matters is the lived experience of the body: feeling it, listening to it and learning to love it as a whole. Wholeness does not mean perfection, but acceptance — honoring one’s desires and recognizing the body as a living record of scars, pleasure, illness, joy and endurance.

Animals and mythological beings appear throughout the series as talismans. Swans guard spaces of love and inner balance; horses embody loyalty, strength and endurance; angels, mavky and ritual dances become symbols of protection, unity and connection to the land.

The female figure in these works is not limited to gender. She becomes a universal symbol — of land, country, home and spirit. In Ukrainian, the word Ukraine is feminine and during the war this image transformed for the artist into a protector: young, vulnerable, yet relentless.

In works like the dinner scene, life becomes a metaphor: we are surrounded by friends and enemies, by protection and threat. People can deceive and harm, but there are also those — family, friends, or strangers — who offer care and support. Maksymova’s work reflects this fragile balance, exploring coexistence, trust and resilience.

Silueta is an exhibition about coexistence — with oneself, with others and with the world. It speaks to resilience, independence and the quiet strength of continuing to live, love and protect what is fragile and precious.