2022
Illustrator of the Year
Maria Makeeva
Illustrator of the Year
Maria Makeeva
illustrations for the Spectrum collection (Soolista for Nautis) and leporelos Vzory a tvary and Domeček Josefa Hoffmana (Moravská galerie v Brně)
Illustrations by the native from the Russian city of Taganrog and graduate from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Maria Makeeva - who mentions mythology and Indian architecture and applied arts as her main sources of inspiration – remind one of subtle, minimalist and sometimes even geometrically precise computer prints. The seemingly schematic character, however, supports a painstakingly elaborate illustration shortcut. "I always first ponder the overall composition and the dynamics of a picture whether it should be either static or dynamic, either central or aerial, either minimalist or abundant and chatty. Just think of a skeleton. As soon as I am sure that it holds together and works, I can start on the individual details," the author said in an interview for the Czech Illustrators website. The Czech Grand Design jury especially appreciated how Makeeva in her illustrations for AM Review upgraded the color scheme and morphology dynamics with utmost concern to the very specific subject.
Hana Slívová
The hitherto most impressive and most visible success of Makeeva was her diploma thesis at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, entitled Alkonost – a series of eleven serigraphs and lithographs on the subject of Slavic mythology, which was also exhibited at the festival of illustration, "LUSTR 2016". The series Tobruk – consisting of five serigraphs executed for the Prague Café restaurant Tobruk, which have turned into a bestseller on the PragueFive e-shop during the past two years - was created in a similar spirit.
Makeeva, however, also pursues book illustration. One of her last works in this field were illustrations for The Invisible novel, which was published by the Take take take publishing house, and also pictures accompanying articles for Newsweek magazine. Her cooperation with her sister Daria Makeeva, who specializes in textile design, is also worth mentioning.
At Designblok 2016, Daria presented a capsule collection for which Maria designed embroidered iconic motifs. Maria's work is often based on Eastern mythology. Her illustrations seem to be austere, almost rigorous at first sight, but, upon closer Foto / Photo: Michaela Karásková inspection, they literally radiate spirituality and subtlety. Her ability to employ drawing shortcuts makes her utterly unique and unrepeatable. As she herself says, every illustration somehow takes her a long time - but that is exactly what we appreciate about her so much.
František Kast