Simple Things is a project that tells about the reality of my life. Using paper and markers, I recreate the environments that surround me every day, wherever I am. I started this series of drawings in the early winter of 2022. Back then, I was drawing our everyday life when my family was still living in peaceful Kyiv. Later, there were drawings I created after my daughter and I were forced to leave Ukraine. During that time, we changed a lot of places and cities, and in each new spot, I captured the objects around me, trying to recreate the atmosphere of my apartment. All that remained were memories. All sorts of suitcases, sofas, and cups—all of these things form a huge puzzle of our forced journey.
Back in Kyiv, I continue to draw in my studio and at home, whether there are air raid alarms or not. By focusing on specific objects and depicting them artistically, I stabilize my mental health.
Maryna Talyutto (b. 1982, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian artist who works with various media, including installations, audiovisual art, and drawings. She graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv. Received the Gaude Polonia scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Poland (2010). She participated in the Saatchi Gallery project Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now, London (2013-2014). She took an active part in various exhibitions and cultural projects both in Ukraine and abroad. Solo exhibitions: Letters, gallery KUNS(Z)T Goethe Institut, Kraków, Poland (2023), Smoke, Center for Creative Activity, Ustka, Poland (2022), Moment of Choice, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv (2015) and others. Group exhibitions: Byzantine Nostalgia, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland (2024), How Are You?, Ukrainian House, Kyiv, Ukraine (2023), culture against war, Poznań, Poland (2022), The Promise of Freedom organized by Shcherbenko Art Center within the Vilnius Art Fair 2022, Vilnius, Lithuania (2022), Give Me Tomorrow organized by Shcherbenko Art Center in Lisbon, Portugal (2022) and others. Based in Kyiv.