At the age of four, Marina Ard was invited by her aunt to paint murals with her, and has not stopped painting ever since. Now, in a London studio overlooking the canal, she uses childhood memories of travelling round the south of Ukraine with her father, a military officer, to paint a link between memories and real objects. Ard discovered print-making at the Cass School of Art, and now works from collages made from cut-outs from magazines, using them as a starting point for her etchings, and then cutting up the etchings and repeating the process until she is satisfied. The result has been described as “contemporary graffiti”.

Positive thoughts make positive things happen

Marina worked as a fashion model for ten years, travelling round the world while painting and drawing continuously. Her favourite book is ‘The Master and Margarita’, her favourite band is Depeche Mode, and her favourite director is Almodovar, choices which reveal a preference for work that mixes sadness and humour, much as hers does.

She organises events for the MTAALA foundation, which supports education communities for vulnerable children in Uganda, and sponsors the Guru Nanak Garib Niwaj Education Society in India.

She is member of the artist-run Vymer studio, and is exhibiting regularly around London