{"data":[{"id":7,"attributes":{"title":"\"Girls and Anxieties\"","slug":"girls-and-anxieties","body":"_[Marija Timofejeva](https://www.instagram.com/maksliniecemarija/) is an artist from Riga, Latvija. Recently together with artist [Grieta Bramane](https://www.instagram.com/baigiviegli/) she had her first major exhibition called \"Girlhood\". Marija's works are the noticing and putting on canvas what many of us girls are experiencing – and it felt just right to have a conversation about it for \"Cycle Stories\"._\n\n![touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_42c0b88643.jpg)\n\n_Touch and Laughter / 90×65cm, / oil on canvas_\n\nAlise\n\nWhere you are as an artist now?\n\nMarija\n\nMy main goal now is to connect with women, girls. The greatest pleasure for me as an artist are comments of girls who say \"wow, a plot like this can really be painted!\" Seeing people looking at my works and feeling that their experience is depicted on canvas.. That's the point of the household genre pictures I make.\n\nThat picture with a pad in the forest! The situation enraged me so much that I had to make art out of it.\n\nAlise\n\nVery familiar..\n\nMarija\n\nYeah! We went boating with my dad and I didn't think my period could start. I was so so confident it's impossible and didn't take anything with me. But of course that's what happened. Except for me there was only one older woman who wasn't having her periods anymore and didn't have anything with her as well.\n\nHere I am, knowing I have to spend the whole night in a tent in the forest while on my period. I had to come up with the unthinkable: napkins, plastic bags, two pairs of pants.. And the construct survived the night, but the situation felt so cinematic, I remembered it very vividly.\n\n![cerams_MT.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/cerams_MT_2e7e8f77ed.jpg)\n\n_It better fucking work / From 'Anxiety' series / 24.5 x 33 cm / Watercolor on paper_\n\nI often draw because something is making me anxious, without really thinking if others will relate to it, but it's cool to realise that ahh, that's what they feel as well..\n\nAlise\n\nWhat else is making you anxious?\n\nMarija\n\nI have this series of watercolors, it's called anxiety. I took different aspects of anxiety and made a picture about each. Actually, a lot of things make me anxious. Relationships with people. Breakups. Painful attachments.\n\nBut in this series I explored the anxiety that is rather a female anxiety. Pain in the chest, periods, acne and a pimple on a butt, breakup in a text message.. Life anxieties, you know.\n\n![Kruts Sap.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/Kruts_Sap_e82f922520.jpg)\n\n_Overthinking. Why does it hurt? / From 'Anxiety' series / 22.2x34cm / watercolor on paper_\n\nAlise\n\nIs it always easy to talk about things like this?\n\nMarija\n\nI was always very open about any of these topics. In primary school we talked about it with girls in aaall details. I never feared starting a conversation about periods or some other topics, you know. I actually always thought of it as something megafun – it felt like a real topic, like we finally spoke of something interesting! And it was funny to me that it made people feel embarassed..\n\nWe didn't talk a lot about it with my mom when I was younger, but we always talked very openly about feelings. And I guess I always felt this is the best way to communicate with others. I am not afraid to talk about different feelings and different topics, even \"embarassing\" ones.\n\nAlise\n\nIs there something revolutionary in this, a desire to disrupt?\n\nMarija\n\nDefinitely, yes. I feel a lot of fun when things embarrass people, I feel the need to shake everyone up, it's as if a little demon is suddenly awakened in me.\n\nAlise\n\nDo you ever feel shame?\n\nMarija\n\nI rarely feel shame. But that pimple on a butt was shameful, yes. I got it and I got a desire to cover it with plaster. But it's rather an anxious feeling too, worrying about some natural processes that are happening to my body.\n\nAnd when showing my works.. It's not a shame, but a slight embarrassment. The first exposed painting I ever made was the \"Point of view\". It was last summer and it was very scary to paint it. I was doing it in my room and every time I thought someone might come in (I live with my parents) I immediately turned the canvas away, as if I was doing something illegal.\n\nI also remember not sharing it on social media before I posted five other works from the series which I thought were more normal. But I knew I wanted to exhibit it.\n\nWhen I showed it at school I realised it’s not scary – I didn’t feel like I am being observed, my art was – and it’s something I want to be doing. And so I started painting other things like that and it was completely different, I didn't care that much anymore. I think this case opened some new chakra in me.\n\nAlise\n\nWhat's the story of chakra-opening \"Point of view\"?\n\nMarija\n\nWhen I started this series about girls, I had a table in my notebook where I listed the keywords and associations with them, both \"good\" or \"bad\". Like tears, they can be this and they can be that.. I wanted to maintain a balance between sad and funny pictures of girlhood in the series.\n\nAnd when thinking about the sad, I thought that all women can relate to the feeling of their stomach being weird.. Not any specific type of weird – but we are always in some kind of relationship with our stomachs. They can feel too big for some reason and we imagine being too fat or pregnant, or start looking for other reasons – does it mean I'll have my period soon or am I ovulating?..\n\nI decided to draw this big stomach from the point of view of a woman, and one time after looking at myself in this way for a while I thought well, this is how you draw it.\n\n![skats_marija_timofejeva.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/skats_marija_timofejeva_cddb4780a7.jpg)\n\n_Point of view / 40x50cm / oil on canvas_\n\nAlise\n\nWhat do you think of inspiration?\n\nMarija\n\nIt is cool and it exists for sure, but when I work I just have to make a schedule of when I paint and do it. To reach a canvas and a work itself, it is just a very technical self-training. And as soon as I begin I get in a flow and start working from inspiration.\n\nAlise\n\nWhat did your teachers think of the series?\n\nMarija\n\nI was very proud and excited to show the works of the series at school – please, look, rate them, do you see the plots! But the only comment I got was that my work looked like a purple soup and I have no knowledge in color theory.. Nothing about the plots! It hurt me a lot.\n\nWell, the comment was legit from the point of view of academic painting, soon I started noticing these mistakes myself.\n\nI got better again when I started painting more just for myself. Doing some watercolors at home I realised I am actually really cool, my ideas are cool and I do it well! I'm happy I spent that time creating a lot of work, even without paying proper attention to academic painting. I think that was way better than if I'd just be sitting here thinking that I'm only nineteen and can't do anything.\n\n![mamma_MT.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/mamma_MT_f5f6f08f56.jpg)\n\n_When her mother left a comment on her body for the first time / From 'Childhood's End' series / 50×70cm / oil on canvas_\n\nAlise\n\nWhat is womanhood for you?\n\nMarija\n\nAh, it is funny that I keep drawing this and it's still such a difficult question. I guess it is women's connection, our moments with other women. I don't think of myself individually when thinking of womanhood, but of laughing with my girls, some of our conversations. Things that I cannot imagine without other women.\n\nAlise\n\nAnd what is female friendship?\n\nMarija\n\nIt is full trust and knowing that you'll be really listened and understood, it is knowing that the other will fully give themselves to understand you in the most empathetic way possible. Such a gift that women have.\n\nAlise\n\nYou had an exhibition together with Grieta Bramane, right? What is your favourite painting of hers?\n\nMarija\n\nYes! Let it be \"Rekur\" (\"Look, here!\" in Latvian)\n\n![rekur-fin.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/rekur_fin_aa50bd5506.jpg)\n\n_Rekur / Grieta Bramane / 2024 / 60 x 50 cm / Oil, pastels, lace on canvas_\n\n\n\n\n\n","color":"#346c34","subtitle":"art of Marija Timofejeva","createdAt":"2025-05-09T08:25:21.956Z","updatedAt":"2025-12-09T20:18:15.531Z","publishedAt":"2025-05-09T08:34:27.953Z","author":"Alise īlena","meta_description":"Young artist from Riga Marija Timofejeva reflects on womanhood, shamelessness and creativity in conversation with writer Alise Ilena.","rank":null,"additional_components":[],"image":{"data":{"id":92,"attributes":{"name":"touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg","alternativeText":null,"caption":null,"width":4982,"height":3620,"formats":{"large":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/large_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f.jpg","hash":"large_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"large_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg","path":null,"size":105.27,"width":1000,"height":727,"sizeInBytes":105272},"small":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/small_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f.jpg","hash":"small_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"small_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg","path":null,"size":28.87,"width":500,"height":363,"sizeInBytes":28872},"medium":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/medium_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f.jpg","hash":"medium_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"medium_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg","path":null,"size":60.54,"width":750,"height":545,"sizeInBytes":60544},"thumbnail":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/thumbnail_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f.jpg","hash":"thumbnail_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"thumbnail_touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva.jpg","path":null,"size":7.34,"width":215,"height":156,"sizeInBytes":7339}},"hash":"touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f","ext":".jpg","mime":"image/jpeg","size":3557.52,"url":"/uploads/touch_and_laughter_marija_timofejeva_8cd31fc92f.jpg","previewUrl":null,"provider":"local","provider_metadata":null,"createdAt":"2025-05-09T08:19:26.625Z","updatedAt":"2025-05-09T08:19:26.625Z"}}}}}],"meta":{"pagination":{"page":1,"pageSize":25,"pageCount":1,"total":1}}}

"Girls and Anxieties" art of Marija Timofejeva