Zine magazine 0004. Origin.

The Ottawa Design Club prints its zine twice a year with the aim to highlight the talented creative local community. Zine 0004 was about Origin. Maria's work has been included in the "Tradition" chapter of this issue. The artwork she chose is silk painting that reflects her contemporary interpretation of the ancient oriental craft of painting on silk.

Artists to Watch '22

ArtConnect selected Maria as an Artist to Watch ‘22 with a review that perfectly depicts the essence of her work: “Maria Shanina brings through her work a glimpse of hope, gentleness, and smoothness, even a kind of caress to today's generally exhausting social situation. Even though she works mainly with fabric in her practice, the works appear liquid. Like a river that flows. Her works provoke a silent dialogue with the viewer, pointing to constant change - a phenomenon that, once we can accept it, can become our key to mental health and balance.”

What Women Create Magazine. Spring 2023

What Women Create is a quarterly magazine that covers stories of creative work of the most extraordinary women of our time. Maria's textile work was featured in Spring issue of the magazine. “In the experimentation with silk and silk dyes, I finally found what I was looking for — the contrast of dynamic monochromatic compositions and the soft surface, authentic expression in a traditional medium.”

Art à la Carte

Art à la Carte exhibition features Ontario artists with the opportunity to showcase their artistic talents with visitors to the In Camera Dining Room at the Legislative Building in Toronto, Ontario. Maria's textile work was among selected artworks. Visitors are welcome to view the exhibition at the Legislative Assembly.

Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada silent auction

When she has a chance, Maria takes part in Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada silent auctions with her artworks to support the organization with fundraising artwork and help people affected by brain tumours.

Ephemeral / Eternal

Maria's silk artworks were selected out of hundreds of artists to participate in the Ephemeral/Eternal show curated by Visionary Art Collective and PxP Contemporary, well-known online galleries. Ephemeral / Eternal is a virtual exhibition centered around the inherent polarities that exist within art.

SquareFootShow

Participated in a group exhibition with landscape oil artworks in a SquareFootShow, a thriving artistic community around the world. Profit from the exhibition was donated to World Vision – a humanitarian organization helping children, families, and their communities overcome poverty and injustice.

ARTWRK Canada

Maria's landscape body of work been accepted to exhibit in a group show at ARTWRK, Canada's best curated online art gallery.

DesignTO Festival, 2024

Maria's window installation "Lanterns: The Journey of Guiding Light" is a textile installation that won an award at DesignTO in 2024. It’s a beautiful reminder of the light that guides us through moments of darkness. The installation reflects the current times we are living in and encourages us to find calmness within the continuous movement of life. It’s a fleeting memory of the past and a promise of a better future, reminding us to engage with the healing moment and embrace the beauty that surrounds us.

Good Interventions Design Competition and Exhibition

GHOST is a winning project from the Good Interventions Design Competition and Exhibition hosted by Parsons School of Design in NYC. The project examines the interconnections and juxtaposition between human labor and artificial intelligence in platform economies. Every minute, millions of pieces of content are shared on social media – analyzed, filtered, deleted or archived by imperceptible policies of social media platforms. The invisible human workers behind content moderation are exposed to the most dangerous online content, constantly monitored and punished while facing trauma on a daily basis and perform what’s staged as algorithms.