Maryna Kostiukevych

Maryna Kostiukevych is an acclaimed Ukrainian photographer based in London. With a background in animal behavior, she brings a sensitive and observant approach to photography, focusing on emotion, character, perception, and the relationship between human and nonhuman life.

Her practice includes:

• Contemporary fine art photography

• Dramatic portraiture

• Animal photography

• Personal long-term artistic projects

Maryna is a neurodivergent artist with ADHD and autism. Her work supports neurodiversity awareness and acceptance, often exploring themes of solitude, sensory experience, vulnerability, and alternative forms of belonging.

Hidden Blue: Where Life Breaks Through Stone

2025

This project explores Volga Blue, a rare stone quarried in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Its distinctive blue crystalline pattern appears only under specific light conditions. Otherwise, the stone seems almost entirely gray.

For this series, fragments of Volga Blue were collected from industrial waste. These pieces are normally discarded and used as roadside gravel. Seeds were germinated directly on the stones and photographed in macro, revealing fragile new life emerging across ancient mineral surfaces.

Created during the ongoing war in Ukraine, the work reflects on resilience, renewal, and the persistence of life in difficult circumstances.

The blue within Volga Blue is also symbolic. Like hope, it is not always visible at first glance. It requires a particular angle, a particular light, and careful attention to reveal itself.

The project also quietly introduces this unique mineral as a creative material, offering new possibilities for artistic and design applications.