CGD

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