VYTIK ART COLLECTIVE is a group of young, talented and creative visual artists and independent curators who are exploring contemporary art in Toronto
Co-founded by Iryna Kolotylo (art manager), Marta Kolotylo (art teacher and designer) & Violetta Skrypnyk (art historian and curator), Vytik Art Collective was established in 2023 as a platform for Ukrainian newcomer artists to connect, collaborate and integrate into the local art scene
Our main focus of work is curating and organizing art exhibitions & promoting art of Ukrainian contemporary artists in Toronto, as well as:
- Leading curatorial tours
- Facilitating artist workshops
- Organizing curated tours to various art galleries and museums around Toronto
- Providing guided assistance to newcomers with background in arts and art management
Mariia Charuta
My name is Mariia Charuta. I am a visual artist and filmmaker originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, now based in Toronto. I knew art was the thing for me the second I realized that if you put down a pencil it will leave a mark – and in that mark my mind found freedom and my heart found purpose. There began my artistic journey, in which I document my life experiences and complex emotions through painting, using canvases like pages in a diary. Now a professional painter, I was part of the Naïve Art Festival at Yagallery in Kyiv, and here in Canada I presented my work at the Shevchenko Museum as a member of the local Ukrainian art group Vytik.
Michael Chernov
Michael Chernov (born in Kyiv, Ukraine) is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist. His artistic journey started with graffiti art when he was a teenager. Michael graduated with a Bachelor’s Diploma from the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture. He also took classes at the National Academy of Fine Arts where he studied academic drawing and painting. Michael’s passion for street art and background in academic painting and drawing transformed into a unique “academic vandalism” style that he developed by combining traditional still life painting with elements of graffiti art. The artist claims that his style evolved as an homage to his grandfather – once an acclaimed artist in Ukraine, who left a huge impact in the early stages of Michael’s artistic development.
Michael is also a tattoo artist and owns a tattoo studio in Toronto.
Roman Dariichuk
I’m an architect who loves painting. My art is like a story with different parts. First, I show simple feelings, like love. Then, I celebrate where I come from – Bukovina, Ukraine, by telling stories with my paintings. But it’s not just happy stories. I also talk about the tough parts, like war in my homeland. Through my paintings, I want people to think about how regular folks feel during hard times. I like trying lots of styles in my art. I think art should be a mix of different things. It makes my paintings interesting and keeps up with our diverse world. A cool thing about my art is I use whatever I find on the street – paints, digital prints. It’s like a treasure hunt, finding beauty in unexpected places. This also helps the environment, which is important to me. In the end, my paintings tell stories of love, culture, and being strong. I use different styles and materials to connect with people and talk about how art shapes how we see the world.
Marta Kolotylo
Marta Kolotylo – Ukrainian mixed-media artist, photographer, based in Toronto. Graduated from the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design, Kyiv School of Photography and School of Visual Communication. Participant of solo and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, Portugal, Spain, and Canada. Marta is a co-founder of the Vytik Art Collective (Canada) and Smerichka Museum (Ukraine).
She focuses on urban minimalism in photography and painting. Her works are about space, object relations, and geometric abstraction.
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