Maria Vorobjova

posted by Amber Weaver June 27, 2019

Recently graduated from Brighton University is illustrator Maria Vorobjova. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to her work, Maria works with interactive processes enjoying the fastpaced and sporadic momentum of running with ideas, generating visual content through a variety of mediums before piecing them together into unconventional collages. Her compositions are rich with symbolism and metaphors, capturing the essence of the subject matter through playfulness and experimentation. Taking inspiration from her Russian cultural heritage, she uses a stark black and white palette with accents of primary colours which allows to both emphasise and give unity to the juxtaposition of the visual elements; such as graphic photos combined with block shapes and drawings.

Each composition focuses on building a world in which all those different visual elements interact with each other cohesively, leading the eye around the image. “I love to use personification and anthropomorphism, playing with what makes objects and abstract shapes appear human,” says Maria, “I often try to push an object’s form, through abstraction, to detach it from what would be traditionally recognised as a human figure whilst still retaining a ‘human nature”. Employing elements of craft and tactility through her process and having recently exhibited a woven blanket with a graphic and intricate print exploring mental comfort, symbolic of mapping and the materials, its physical tactility adds an extra layer of interaction.