C A N N O P Y
Art is True North
CLOISTRAL: Marija Tiurina
Marija Tiurina's Studio
Illustrating the fascinating tension between the familiar and the fantastic
Words By Rebecca Davison-Mora
ISSUE 12 | HAARLEM | STUDIO SESSIONS
Marija Tiurina knows better than most what it means to exist in the in-between. Born in Lithuania as the USSR was disintegrating, an innate understanding of liminality permeates her expansive watercolours. Illustrating worlds that straddle both the familiar and the fantastic, her work offers gentle contradictions wherein isolation and togetherness perpetually converge.
In her watercolour print Working Remotely, a forest acts as a cabin. Full of mythical creatures, sprouting vegetables, druids, and frogs, a computer plug connects to a tree, and multiple scenes of domesticity present themselves in varying degrees of the fantastical. There is a hum to the work as various creatures go about their day, echoing the neighbours of an apartment complex. A computer screen aptly reads “AWAY” as its protagonist enters this world that is ‘outside’ though radiating interiority. It’s a reminder of how the hum of urban life has us plugged in and yet slightly apart from the happenings right beside us.
In other works, like Mind the Gap, the influence of video game design is present in the contrasting scenes of parallel worlds. Underworlds mesh with those above, loosely held together by disembodied hands and naked tree trunks. Commuters hold onto a centipede-like creature, while paper boats delicately float down a canal. The 73 bus to Stoke Newington looks like it may fall down below, and one can feel the force of a city full of interior lives─and the loneliness that can ensue.
For Tiurina, this exemplifies her desire to explore the ways we co-exist within both natural and urban settings. In her own studio, she requires natural light and collects natural ephemera to bring the outside in. Surrounded by things that do not belong, her own built environment merges the mystical with the mundane. Spurred by the pandemic, she observes how we are not always in the spaces we wish to be in, and describes the longing that comes with wanting to be everywhere all at once.
Her fascination with this tension speaks to our desire for multiple realities and the complexities of life, inviting us to reflect on the connections and disconnections that make up the hours in a day. A welcome mediation in an anxious world, Tiurina’s work manages to balance a tightrope of clarity and confusion.
CANNOPY x Marija Tiurina
Games Logic
sM | How has your background in video game design influenced your creative process as a painter?
MT ── Working in video games has really opened my mind towards the possibilities of combining still artworks — in traditional or digital media — with interactive and technical products. The ways of fitting illustrations to work with programming code were technically limiting, but it also opened up a world of possibilities as the code helped the artwork come to life, move around, and respond to human actions.
Entropic Urbanity
sM | Your style can be characterised as a fantastical, entropic urbanity that communicates both isolation and togetherness. What do you find most interesting about this hyper-cloistered composition in your art?
MT ─ I’ve always been curious about the ways we co-exist within both natural and urban settings, and the pandemic especially made me think a lot about which environments we choose, and which ones choose us. People realised they were not where they wanted to be. So my artworks often explore spaces and the comfort they offer, whether it’s a common realistic setting or a surreal and whimsical place.
Toil & Clutter
sM | One of your watercolour prints, Working Remotely, depicts someone toiling in a lush, cluttered cabin. How does your studio space draw inspiration from the busy settings of your paintings?
MT ─ I often fill my studio with objects and items that otherwise wouldn’t be there: wood sticks, shells, pine cones, vintage botanical prints, and surreal illustrations. That longing for nature in an urban setting is often depicted in my artwork too and, vice versa, my paintings often get inspired by the places I happen to be in, like a forest cottage or the busy streets of a megapolis.
Studio Space
sM | What’s an essential item to your studio space?
MT ─ Having natural light in my studio is what matters to me most. I believe that no artificial light can accurately reflect the colours created when applying paint to paper; only the daylight can help us see the real deal. Other important things would be space, and nods to nature, whether that’s a set of vintage botanical prints or a plant pot desperately trying to remind me to water it more often!
