Maria Petrenko

An artist and photographer from Kyiv. Currently lives in Berlin. Studied sociology and philosophy. Within 10 years has been working in the field of marketing, advertising and on the TV.

Studied Photography at the School of Visual Communication, Bird in Flight and MYPH schools. Took part in the Swedish-Ukrainian program «Other voices, other rooms» (by PhotoCULT Centre of Photography and Swedish institute) and in the cultural residence «Points of approaching» in Kharkiv (by CSM / Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art). Participated in Odessa-Batumi photo days.

Exhibited in Lviv, Kyiv, Krakow, London, Arles, Kharkiv, Berlin, Potsdam, Vilnius, Ivano-Frankivsk etc. Finalist (3rd Place, Professional competition, Discovery) of the Sony Photography Awards 2018. Member of Ukrainian Women Photographers Organization and MYPH Community. Publications: F-stop magazine, Humble Arts Foundation group show, Ukraїner, Der Greif Guest Room, Bird in Flight, Sleek magazine etc

In her artistic practice mostly use introspective method, studying social phenomena thru the prism of personal experience. A lot of works with self-portraits, diary method, last years also use photography as therapeutic practice.

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Maria Petrenko

Maria's photo projects

Destination

Destination is series that is quite special for me - it somehow made a foundation for my artistic practice. I started using photography to deal with my own fears, traumas and experiences. This is a story about fear of maternity that I had while made it.

Ritual

I used to take care of my terminally ill granny, and therapist advanced me to produce a ritual to normalize life. Since the beginning of 2022 year, I have started to take self-portraits every day as a therapy. I planned to do it for a year. At that time, I did not know that a full-scale war would start, and I would be forced to leave my home. Changing beds, rooms, apartments, cities, countries. I continue to take these photos every day already more than two years

Tention

Tension series is about the anticipation of war, the state of fatigue and tension in which we, as a society, lived for several months before a full-scale russian attack on Ukraine. It was the last series that I took in Kyiv, before I were caused to leave my home.