on Mars - Limited Edition 5 of 10 Print

Maryna Semenkova (b. 1983) is a socially-engaged multimedia artist and researcher from Odesa, Ukraine, who uses photography and performance as her main mediums. Applying the collage principle, Maryna “cuts reality into fragments” while including herself in much of her work. Professionally trained as a lawyer, she has been practicing meditation and psychotherapy since 2008. The basis for her work is her own reflection and psychotherapy. Maryna believes that ecology begins in the minds of people: a conscious attitude towards oneself leads to ecological values and, accordingly, to the ecology of the environment. Having traveled a lot, and lived in India for three years, Maryna learned the comfort of her own life as a woman, and observed how women live in other countries. She has explored the degree of freedom for women in social and family spheres and believes that in the post-Soviet space people are not sufficiently aware of what feminism is, they are hostile towards and wary of this “Western” word. She sees it as her mission to cover this topic and to draw attention to it. Thus, ecofeminism was the main focus of her art practices until February 24, 2022. On February 28, 2022 she left Ukraine due to the invasion by the Russian Federation and since then she has never returned back. And now a new wave has begun in her artistic practices when self-reflection has become a way of connecting with collective memory.