When she was a kid, Maya Hayuk was obsessed with record covers. And not that much has changed since then. These days she paints what she sees when she closes her eyes and rubs them with her fists. And occasionally she paints on paper plates.


Chief Magazine: Where are you from originally?

Maya Hayuk: I grew up in Baltimore, but since my parents were from Ukraine, I was raised very Ukrainian, studying the language, making crafts, and going to summer camps.

And you live in New York now?

After high school I moved around a lot, then settled in San Francisco for ten years, and now I've been in Brooklyn for the last six years.

What were you like as a kid?

Oh my god, I was a total spaz.

You were?

A total dork. I wanted to be involved in everything, was super into school, and obsessed with time travel, parallel universes, ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon. I wore rainbow suspenders and was in love with Mork from Ork and the Muppets, though I wasn't really allowed to watch TV. My way of trying to make friends was by asking them what they dreamt the night before, which didn't always go over so well.

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What was your parents’ reaction to your decision to pursue art?

They always encouraged me as a kid, sending me to art classes outside of school and taking me to a lot of museums, but when the time came when it was obvious I was going to be an artist, they were a little worried and hoped I would pursue something pragmatic like advertising or teaching. They were both professors and weren't convinced I could actually be as happy as I am now.

Earlier this year, you had a solo show in Madrid. How did that come about, and is it especially exciting to be exhibited internationally? And how did the audience there compare with crowds in American cities?

This super awesome artist in Madrid, Nano, turned Subaquatica Gallery on to my work and they invited me to come. It was great. The friends I have over there are a lot like the friends I have over here and so are the audiences. Like, if you put us all in the same room together we would fully rage. I know there would be an inclination for me to say, "Oh, people over there are less jaded and more enthusiastic," but it's really not true.