Maya
Kolesnik

Maya Kolesnik (b.1986, Odesa, Ukraine) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on intersections of utopian architecture and collective memory, revealing how built environments embody both personal and historical narratives. Through painting, photography, and curatorial practice, she explores the complex dialogue between space, identity, and time.

 

She holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Odesa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture (2009), and a Master of Fine Arts with honors from the National School of Fine Arts of Lyon (2017), where she was mentored by Sarah Tritz and Bernhard Rüdiger. Laureate of the Charles Dufraine prize. 

 

From 2009 to 2012, Kolesnik collaborated with Aidan Gallery in Moscow and participated in major exhibitions, including the 1st Moscow International Biennial For Young Art and was nominated for Pinchuk Art Prize in Kyiv.

 

Her studio experience includes residencies and collaborations with institutions such as the Winzavod Contemporary Art Center (Moscow), the Museum of Odesa Modern Art, the Tea Factory Experimental Art Center (Odesa), and Ateliers du Grand Large in Décines, France.

 

In 2017, she founded Méta, an independent exhibition space in Lyon, and later engaged in educational practice within the Space/Color studio at Pratiques Plastiques Amateures at ENSBA Lyon. From 2019 to 2024, Kolesnik worked as a full-time curator at Invogue#ART gallery in Odesa, continuing her practice as an artist, educator, and independent curator.

 

Her works are held in private collections internationally, as well as in the collection of the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum.

 

To date, Maya Kolesnik has held 6 solo exhibitions since 2010 and participated in over 40 group shows. She has curated over 15 projects, combining her artistic practice with curatorial work.