Valeriia Murko
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Sep 26
- 3 min read
Valeriia Murko explores emotional states through cyanotype, using natural elements like rain, sunlight, and spices as active parts of the process. Her works often form slowly, shaped by chance and material interaction rather than fixed outcomes. The prints reflect moments of doubt, clarity, and memory, each carrying traces of the environment and her inner landscape. Letting go of control has become central to her practice, both as a method and a way of understanding life.
Q: You work with cyanotype, letting rain, sunlight, and even spices leave their mark. What keeps you drawn to this way of working?
A: I was drawn to the idea of "letting go of control" and trying to understand life through this lens. For a long time I tried to shield myself from difficulties by overanalyzing and keeping everything under strict control—myself, situations, even people around me. At first it seemed like this would protect me from unexpected or uncomfortable events, but instead it left me exhausted and tangled. Life, by its very nature, is unpredictable. Learning to let go of control became a kind of practice for me.
Through this philosophy, I wanted to show that life is never an ideal image, but a constant mix of factors—both highs and lows—that don’t always depend on us.
Our choices and actions matter, but they are always influenced by forces outside of us. Even failures and scars we might wish to hide are part of our journey. They shape us and create a unique "pattern" of life.
I reflected this idea in my work by letting natural elements—rain, wind, sunlight—act as forces beyond control, while spices symbolized personal experiences and emotions. Together they created images that mirror the complexity of living.
Q: In "Delight Inside" you bring out a sense of quiet joy. How did that mood come through in the piece?
A: The mood of joy, acceptance, and release came through as bursts of bright forms that reminded me of flashes of inner light. Smaller, playful details created a sensation of being tickled from within—a quiet happiness that spreads softly but insistently.
Q: "Doubt" feels heavier, full of darker stains. What was on your mind while making it?
A: This work is dominated by darker, heavier stains because, at the time, I was living with insistent thoughts that refused to go away. The smaller traces around them act like echoes, reinforcing hesitation and amplifying uncertainty. The print became a mirror of that restless mental state.
Q: Memory takes center stage in "Trigger Memories." How do you approach moments that aren’t easy to look back on?
A: I don’t have one fixed approach—it depends on each situation. But usually I need to revisit the memory step by step, analyze it, and find some kind of personal conclusion: what it meant for me, what lesson I should take, or what understanding I can draw from it. This process is rarely easy; it comes with emotions and sudden flashes before I can "put things in order" and begin to let go.
Time helps smooth the sharp edges, and whenever possible I also try to remove the "trigger object" from my sight to prevent reopening the wound.
Q: Cyanotype slows everything down. What do you enjoy most about that slower rhythm compared to digital image-making?
A: What I love most is that in the slow, uncertain, tactile process something genuine and real emerges—an experience no digital copy can replace. Cyanotype invites me to wait, to observe, to anticipate, to make fewer but more intentional choices. There is no instant undo; the material responds to both my presence and external forces. This slowness creates space for silence and attention, and the final work carries the process within it.
Even if a digital app could generate a similar image, it would lack the meaning, emotions, and lived experiences embedded in the making. That is what makes the analogue process irreplaceable and precious.
Q: In "Finding the Answer" you work with uncertainty. What did you take away from making that piece?
A: From this piece I learned—or maybe confirmed—that clarity is always easier to live with than uncertainty. Constant guessing and circling thoughts are far more draining. Even when the truth is not pleasant or convenient, it still brings a kind of sharpness, a temporary lift and relief. At least then you know what you are facing, and you can move forward with a clearer sense of direction.
