Artist Feature and Interview
Nataliia Burmaka (Ukraine/Finland)
"Summer Mood," Coffee, Acrylic Marker, and Liner on paper, 40 x 30 cm
Nataliia Burmaka is a visual artist originally from Ukraine and currently located in Finland. Works selected for this artist feature were created with coffee, acrylic marker and liner on paper.
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"I love coffee as a drink and I love creating my artworks using granulated coffee as material — a medium that brings me genuine joy. There is something deeply comforting and playful in watching coffee bloom on paper, forming unpredictable shapes and delicate stains. These stains become small worlds to explore. I let the coffee spread freely, and then I highlight the figures, silhouettes or abstract forms that appear, much like interpreting patterns in Turkish coffee fortune-telling. Joy comes from the moment I recognize an image hidden inside the stain — as if the paper itself is telling a story. Working with coffee allows me to balance control and spontaneity. Each piece is an improvisation where order meets chaos, and every unexpected mark becomes a source of inspiration. This practice keeps me curious, playful and connected to simple, tactile happiness — the kind that emerges from seeing beauty in something as ordinary as a cup of coffee." |
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"Summer Mood," Coffee, Acrylic Marker, and Liner on paper, 40 x 30 cm |
"Spiral of Life," Coffee, Acrylic Marker, and Liner on paper, 42 x 32 cm |
🎤Could you please share your unique creative process?🎤
"My coffee art practice includes several methods of image-making, which I collectively call the 'Coffee Stains' series. I often use pouring techniques to create spontaneous stains, working with granulated coffee as a pigment. Once the stains appear, I observe them closely and begin to highlight the images I see using a liner.
This approach is inspired by the ritual of Turkish coffee fortune-telling, where people interpret the shapes left by coffee grounds in a cup. In a similar way, many of my works begin as abstract stains and gradually transform into figures, silhouettes, geometric forms, or symbolic compositions.
Sometimes the process is pure improvisation: I start with a stain and respond intuitively, searching for a delicate balance between control and unpredictability. Coffee works often reflect my interest in the relationship between order and disorder.
At other times, I use coffee more traditionally, like watercolor, building images with washes and later adding details with acrylic paint. Improvisation and spontaneity are essential to my process — I allow each work to carry its own energy. Painting with coffee is one branch of my practice; alongside it, I also work with acrylic and watercolor in more traditional ways."
🎤Where does your love of coffee come from?🎤
"My relationship with coffee began quite practically — my doctor once advised me to drink a cup of black coffee without sugar in the morning to help with low blood pressure. Since then, coffee has been my daily source of energy and good mood.
Later, I saw a girl-artist creating striking portraits using coffee and promised myself that one day I would try this medium. When I arrived in Finland as a refugee fleeing the war, the first art materials I had were very limited: paper, a few liners, brushes — and coffee, which I always had. I made a coffee stain on paper, let it dry, and then began doodling with a liner, building compositions of figures, lines, silhouettes, and geometric forms.
The result surprised me. I submitted this experimental work to a magazine, and it was selected as a cover for Flare – The Flagler Review. That moment encouraged me to continue, and eventually the 'Coffee Stains' series was born."
"A Tree Without Roots," Coffee, Acrylic Marker, and Liner on paper, 29 x 21 cm
Cover art for Flare – The Flagler Review
🎤What is the most challenging part of your creative process?🎤
"If marketing can be considered part of the creative process, then it definitely takes first place.
But speaking purely about creation itself, the most challenging moment is the space between 'I'm not sure this will work' and 'It turned out beautifully.'
I once had a fine arts teacher who said:
'Every artwork needs something unexpected, otherwise it won’t be interesting.'
I’m always searching for that small, unpredictable element — and I don’t always manage to find it. That uncertainty is difficult, but it’s also what keeps the process alive."
"In Lace," Coffee, Acrylic Marker, and Liner on paper, 42 x 32 cm
🎤How do you balance experimentation while also remaining true to the style that you've already created?🎤
"I believe it is difficult to invent something completely unique. An artistic style is similar to handwriting — even when you experiment with different materials, something truly your own remains. Even when I change materials or techniques, that way of seeing stays with me.
What connects my work across different media is a certain balance between structure and intuition. I’m drawn to organic forms, but I always hold them within a clear internal order — through rhythm, repetition, and careful composition. Even when a piece starts spontaneously, I tend to organize it, to give the form a sense of quiet discipline.
This comes partly from my early visual influences, including traditional Ukrainian decorative painting - Petrykivka, where precision, control, and a single well-trained stroke matter more than repeated corrections. That sensitivity shaped my attention to surface, detail, and smooth transitions, regardless of the medium I use.
So experimentation doesn’t feel like leaving my style behind. It’s more like allowing the same visual logic to speak through different materials. Whether I work with coffee, acrylic, or mixed media, the work remains connected by the same internal rhythm and way of building form."
