For the 2026 autumn residency, Greylight Projects welcomes Ukrainian artist Maryna Shtanko. Recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Photography from Muthesius Kunsthochschule in Kiel, Maryna works at the intersection of photography, material research and interdisciplinary practice. Her current research considers soil not only as a physical substance, but also as a carrier of memory, history and cultural identity. In the context of the war in Ukraine, soil becomes a particularly charged material: a site of belonging and displacement, of violence and regeneration, and of personal and collective memory.
During her residency at Greylight Projects, Maryna will further develop her research on the ecological and symbolic significance of soil in Ukraine through fieldwork, photography and material experimentation. Her practice extends beyond the photographic image into textiles and embroidery, video, sound, book-making and performative actions. These different media allow her to investigate how landscapes can be observed, mapped and translated, and how material processes can activate memories that are difficult to make visible.
Her approach connects closely to the research framework of Borderland Residencies and its interest in hidden structures: the visible and invisible forces that shape landscapes, societies and our relationship to place. It also resonates with the legacy of Robert Smithson, whose engagement with landscape, geology, entropy and site forms an important point of departure for the residency.
At Greylight Projects, Maryna will use the residency as a space for sustained research, experimentation and exchange, developing new ways of thinking through soil, landscape and memory.
Maryna Shtanko (b.1992 in Poltava, Ukraine) is a visual artist working primarily with photography and exploring bookmaking, textile-based processes, embroidery, and video-performances. She has a Master’s degree in German Language & Literature (2014). After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Maryna fled to Germany. She is currently based in Kiel, where she got her second Master’s degree in Photography at Muthesius Kunsthochschule in 2025. Maryna has been a recipient of several awards, grants, and scholarships. Her work has been exhibited in Ukraine, Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania, Germany, Slovenia among others.
This residency is part of the Borderland Residencies program. -> The Euregio Meuse-Rhine is a breeding ground for artistic development and reflection. Eighteen art institutions in the Dutch-German border area – including Ludwig Forum Aachen, IKOB Eupen, Greyligt Projects Heerlen, Weltkunstzimmer Düsseldorf, Museum Goch, Internationales Atelierstipendium Mönchengladbach, Buitenplaats Wijlre and Odapark – collaborate under the name Borderland Residencies. In addition to the individual residencies, the program offers shared moments of in-depth exploration and exchange over a period of three months. The Borderland Residencies program consists of multi-day field trips, meetings with curators and institutions, and studio visits on both sides of the border. The program concludes with a joint publication or exhibition.
