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Maria Alekseev NYC | ARTIST

@opticvoidnyc

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Painting, Intaglio Printmaking, Assemblage
Figurative surrealism rooted in memory, grief, and embodiment
Works available by inquiry ↓

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NEW WORK☝🏻This triptych navigates the lived experience of illness, the passage of time, and the psychological space between life and death. The work reflects on what it means to exist within a body that is both present and failing. Where memory shifts and time distorts.
🤍Alive In A Failing Body, No. 1, the figure confronts the physical reality of illness, where the body becomes unstable and mortality feels close. The tension between life and death is immediate, with moments of fragility existing alongside small traces of hope.
🤍The Same Day, No. 2, shifts into the repetition of daily life within that condition time becomes cyclical and contained, and the body is forced to continue despite its limitations. The figure exists in a confined space, performing endurance while surrounded by their own thoughts, with no clear way out.
🤍The Departure, No. 3, the perspective becomes internal and imagined. The work reflects on what it might feel like to approach death—where fear, memory, and unrealized selves coexist. The body begins to surrender, observing fragments of identity, including the version of the self that never fully came to be, as it enters a final space of transition.

✨I create figurative worlds where the body holds memory, and symbolism replaces narrative.
Each panel: 18x24 in. Acrylic, Watercolor, Graphite
For inquiries: DM here or email opticvoidnyc@gmail.com
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#deathanddying
#surrealism
#frida inspo by @opticvoidnyc

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6 months ago

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩: 𝘍𝘔𝘓 𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴
It’s been over a year since David Lynch passed. On my first and only trip to Europe, seeing his work in Maastricht in 2019 reminded me to be raw, honest, and unflinching, a courage I still return to. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗙𝗠𝗟 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀. I abandoned this canvas for nearly a year before turning it sideways and starting again. From there, it took off. A translucent body bends beneath six drifting heads, spilling emotional excess. It speaks to the impossibility of grounding while carrying overload, the body as a vessel for memory and subconscious experience. Influenced by the surreal bodies of Sheba Sharrow and Lynch’s dream logic.
🖤 Read the full version on my Substack and follow for authentic support.
FML Six Times, 2026, 48x36 in. Acrylic, watercolor, pencil on raw canvas.

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#Painting #FigurativeArt #FigurativeSurrealism #EmotionalOverload #ArtisticProcess by @opticvoidnyc

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9 months ago

ＬｅｔＨｅｒＧｏ, 11x14 Acrylic, watercolor on paper. This piece is a reflection of what once was, mirroring the struggle of letting go, while speaking to memories, loss and the fearful and invigorating act of moving forward.
✨I create figurative worlds where the body holds memory, and symbolism replaces narrative.
Selected works are available.
For inquiries: DM here or email opticvoidnyc@gmail.com

#painter #dancer #dancerportrait #grief #loss #art #chronicillness by @opticvoidnyc

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2 years ago

I am pleased to announce that COMMON will have its opening show featuring artists @nadineelkasriart @opticvoidnyc & myself on Tuesday, November 2nd from 6-8 PM EST, at @satelliteartshow !! This is a very fun event-filled week in the gallery space with artist/music collectives and clubs hosting events all during the week (Nov 1-8).. all tickets on Luma and most events are free! Link: https://luma.com/user/common_artweek
Please RSVP to the gallery opening & other events so we can keep track of how many attendees will be joining us!! Wine available at the Gallery Opening 🍷 other events being held are hosted by: @hack_ny @matchabeatsclub @sonoracollective + @blushsocietybar @toneshiftcollective @creativecodingnyc taken in Satellite Art Show by @opticvoidnyc

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5 days ago

#wip Making art is incredibly intense for me. It holds all of my honesty, struggles, fears, questions, dreams and realities. Putting everything I feel into something I'm creating with my own hands, alone, becoming a place where everyone is watching, looking, comparing, while judging my abilities, my character, my worth. Working in my studio as if my entire life depends on it, and guess what, it actually does. I'm still working on this piece slowly, and it holds more than I'm willing to admit to myself atm. by @opticvoidnyc

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20 days ago

I’m very excited to announce my upcoming group exhibition called “The Places, The People, We Come From”, which will be on view from November 2nd - 8th in NYC (lower east side) I am so thrilled to be showing works by two very incredible up+coming female artists: @nadineelkasriart @opticvoidnyc Will be posting details for the private viewing in October! So stay tuned!! #artnyc #artgallery #artistsofinstagram #newartexhibition #nycartists taken in Satellite Art Show by @opticvoidnyc

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22 days ago

𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 is framed and on its way to be exhibited in 𝘼𝙧𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙗𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙀𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
🚩Opening Reception September 19, 3-5pm
Art Lab is located on the historical grounds of Snug Harbor in Staten Island NYC.
✨Our Many Faces, 2026 9x12 in.
Watercolor, Oil Pastel. Framed in a repurposed frame about 16x20 in.

@artlabsi
@snugharborccbg
@siadvance
@statenislandedition
@statenislandlocals
@statenarts
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#artexhibitions #snugharbor
#framedart #figurativeabstract
#originalartwork taken in Art Lab by @opticvoidnyc

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a month ago

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 2026 Growing up with stories of angels and demons, I was taught to see the world through a constant tension between good and evil. Those ideas stayed with me, shaping the way I understood right and wrong, and perhaps giving me a sense that having demons in our lives is something we are all destined to carry.
This painting reflects on the religious pressures I experienced as a child and the lingering struggle to do what feels right when my own thoughts can become dark or critical. It speaks to those moments when it is difficult to see the good ahead of me, or even recognize the good behind me when the negative feels more powerful than the positive.
The work is not necessarily about good versus evil, but about the complicated space between the two: the demons we carry, the expectations placed upon us, and the ongoing attempt to find something good within ourselves.
✨ This original painting is available to add to your collection. Message me directly.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
𝟵𝘅𝟭𝟮 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘃𝗮𝘀
𝗔𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗹𝗶𝗰, 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿, 𝗢𝗶𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹, 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗹 by @opticvoidnyc

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a month ago

NEW🔥Some work on paper, while I'm not feeling well enough to paint lately.
9x12 Watercolor, oil pastels and oil pencil on canvas paper.
✨ Let's chat if you'd like to add a piece to your exhibition or your personal art collection.
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#alwayssick #drawings #workonpaper #september1st #welcomeseptember taken in New York City by @opticvoidnyc

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2 months ago

Dead Tired, 2026
My new painting, Dead Tired, came to me while reading Early Work by Patti Smith. Her words stirred something in me, memories flooding back line by line, bringing with them both exhilaration and exhaustion. The painting reflects that feeling of being overwhelmed by the weight of memory: the physical and mental exhaustion that can come from revisiting the experiences, emotions, and pieces of a life we have left behind. It is about the heaviness of the past, and the strange intensity of realizing just how much of ourselves exists within those memories.
Have you had a similar experience from a book or artwork?
Dead Tired, 2026
16x20 inches
Acrylic on canvas
✨Message me to add to your exhibition or for personal collection.
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#pattismith #abstractsurrealism #womenartists by @opticvoidnyc

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2 months ago

Goodbye Kusama 🟡🖤🟡
🫶🏻
#kusama #kusamayayoi by @opticvoidnyc

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2 months ago

Th Dread that Consumes Us - CALL FOR ART
Call: July 15 - Oct 4, 2026
Exhibition: Nov 6 - Dec 20, 2026

NO SUBMISSION FEE, $35 HANGING FEE

Guest Curated by Crystal Serino @the.artist.palmsun
Co-Curated by Jaime Ransome @jransome.curator
Hosted by Women’sWork.Art @womenswork.art

Virtual Info Session: August 21

About the Curator:
Crystal Serino (she/they) is an emerging curator, eco-artist, and craft artist living and working in the Hudson Valley. Their predominant curatorial and artistic philosophy is simple: Any human art over AI art. For this curator it is important for art to be the practice of keeping the human soul alive. After training as a curator and art handler in the Trolley Barn Gallery Youth Curator program, Serino develops exhibitions that merge reality and imagination, fear and care, and allow space for both vulnerability and cathartic performance.

Selected artists will be asked to submit a $35 acceptance fee to confirm participation. These fees help support the exhibition’s guest curator, cover basic promotion, ensuring visibility for participating artists and their work. WomensWork.Art operates as a commercial gallery that intentionally hosts community exhibitions for marginalized artists and presents with as many free programs and opportunities as it can sustainably offer. The gallery is run with deep personal commitment to community access and care; acceptance fees help make these exhibitions possible within a small, independently operated space.

Artists experiencing financial hardship may contact WomensWork.Art to request a discounted or waived acceptance fee.

Image Credit: Maria Alekseev, The Departure, No.3, Acrylic, watercholor, graphite, 18x24 inches, 2026 @opticvoidnyc taken in womenswork.art by @opticvoidnyc

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3 months ago