Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Mariya Dykalo studied Fine Art and Fashion, specialising in leather accessories design. Following the completion of her Master’s degree, she relocated to London, where her design career developed alongside her fine art practice. In 2013, she was appointed Creative Director of Aspinal of London. Her work for the brand expanded across fashion, interiors, and licensed design projects, characterised by a synthesis of structure and hand-drawn organic motifs. These cross-cultural perceptions underpin Dykalo’s multi-media driven practice, moving between abstraction and stylisation to explore the dialogue between natural systems, human-made order and spirituality.
Dykalo’s multidisciplinary practice spanning floral design, painting, and textile works, is a vibrant expression of her Ukrainian cultural identity, drawing deeply on the rich traditions of Ukrainian folk art, particularly Petrykivka painting. Characterised by vivid floral compositions imbued with symbolic meanings of prosperity and harmony, the two-dimensional Petrykivka style flourished across the decorative arts of nineteenth-century Ukraine, from porcelain ornamentation to intricate embroidery. Rather than describing the visible world, Dykalo constructs immersive visual fields in which organic forms and gestural marks interlace and drift across canvas and textile. Through stylised and emblematic imagery, her work communicates the animism of nature, echoing Petrykivka’s ethos of humanity’s unity with the natural world and the cyclical rhythms of time.
Working between her plein-air garden studio and her design workshop in West Sussex, Dykalo develops her paintings and designs from an emotional and in-situ connection with nature. Her paintings unfold through layered, gestural mark-making and vivid chromatic fields that evoke the vibrational energy of the natural world. These floral and painterly motifs are mutable forms which inspire many of Dykalo’s intricately hand-painted designs for wearable art, harnessing the historic and protective symbolism of Petrykivka painting. Dykalo’s work has also engaged with themes of the transformation of war-torn landscapes and human resilience, informed by her national heritage. Her sunflower paintings, in particular, revisit the floral motif as both an emblem of beauty and a symbol of endurance, situating personal reflection within a broader cultural and emotional context of present-day Ukraine.
Alongside her studio practice, Dykalo has actively supported environmental and humanitarian causes. She has created and donated works to organisations including the The Royal Society of Arts (Insulate Ukraine Charity Auction) Blue Marine Foundation and the South Downs National Park Trust, and has collaborated with the Olena Pinchuk Foundation and St Mary’s Ukrainian School in London to establish shared studio spaces for young Ukrainians, fostering creative exploration and future-oriented world-building.
2005
Lviv National Academy of Arts, Ukraine. Diploma of Master of Design. Major in Leather Goods, Garments & Design.
2002-2004
Lviv National Academy of Arts, Ukraine. Diploma of Specialist of Design.
1998-2002
Lviv National Academy of Arts, Ukraine. Bachelor of Design.
2024
Duo Show. Mariya Dykalo & Sophie Birdwood. Circles & Planets. Collingham Gardens, London.
2023
Tapestry of an English Garden. Southdowns National Park Trust. West Sussex.
2011
Duo Show. Mariya Dykalo & Serhiy Savchenko. Peace & Colour Gallery. London.
2025
Mariya Dykalo & Laura Green. The Kaleidoscope Capsule Collection. London.
2025
Blooming in The Darkness Bespoke Cushions for the Dara Huang Suit. The Arc Project. East London.
2025
We Can Dream Again. St Mary’s Ukrainian School. London.
2024
Our Planet Of Bees. Original Canvas & Silk Scarves. Souths Down National Park Trust. United Kingdom.
2024
Horizon of Hope for ‘The Meaning of Home’ charity auction for Insulate Ukraine. The Royal Society of Arts, London.
2024
Green Rose, Musky Fig, Ochre Spice Perfumes. Aspinal Of London & French Fragrance House.
2023
Oceanic Blue Whale. Original Canvas & Silk Scarves. Aspinal Of London & Blue Marine Foundation.
2023
Sunflowers with Blue Butterflies & Blooming in The Darkness. Original Canvases & Limited Edition Silk Scarves. The Olena Pinchuk Foundation x Aspinal of London.
2019
21st Century Icon Award for Exquisite Art & Fashion. Issues by Tarun Ghulati & Preeti Rana. London